Zhen Zhen climbing the trees in her enclosure to get a better look at her potential mate, Lu Lu.
We had the first mating at the panda base this weekend (2/11-2/12). I figure that’s close enough to Valentines Day that I could write “Valentine’s Day” post about it!
This particular mating was a special one for me as the female, Zhen Zhen, was born at the San Diego Zoo and had her first estrus this year at 6 years old. Her behaviors leading up to the mating were, in a word, AWESOME. She was probably one of the most active pandas I’ve seen prior to estrus – climbing trees, rolling around, running along the side of the enclosures. In fact, she was so active that I wasn’t able to get any video during our behavioral recording sessions (sometimes there’s a little bit of down time for me to snap some short video). She really kept me on my toes and made me laugh constantly.
Funny Girl!
Zhen Zhen mated successfully with Lu Lu for a record 26 mintues! I’ve talked to the San Diego Zoo bear team and they said that’s the longest mating they’ve heard of. Maybe a world record for Valentine’s Day? She also copulated with Yuan Yuan successfully (1 minute 15 seconds). Not a bad first Valentine’s Day for San Diego’s little girl!
Hope all of you have a great Valentine’s Day too,
– Meg
I’m sure Bai Yun and Gao Gao would be proud.
Me too! What good parents to have raised a young-un that breeds successfully (can’t say this about all pandas that’s for sure)!
Always knew Zhen Zhen was a special panda girl. Please do take more pictures and videos of her when you get the chance–she always makes me laugh and I really miss her!
I will do my best to get some more pictures and some video of her by the end of this week! The San Diego Zoo pandas are such celebrities – everyone enjoys reading about updates 🙂