It's All About Bamboo and Poo (part 2)
Monday, 09 August 2010 12:12
Tweet
Hi again
As I was saying in my last blog, what goes in must come out!!! That means that along with the increased bamboo input there is a huge output!!! Poo is a big part of being a panda keeper - because the Giant Panda has such a short gut, and it is designed just like any other carnivore, they need to eat a lot in order to get enough nutrition out of the bamboo. If they had a gut designed like a ungulate, they would not need to eat nearly as much!
There are a lot of people that get a bit funny when we talk about poo but for the pandas it really isn’t a big deal! Just a lot of weight! Every day we weigh the poo that we have collected that morning from the exhibits, day rooms and lock-aways. In summer pandas eat less so their faecal output is also less. For example, in the month of February when it was quite hot, Wang Wang was producing on average 6.8kgs of poo each day and Fu Ni was averaging around 5 kgs. Now that winter has hit it is around double that! Today, for example, Wang Wang produced a massive 15kgs of faeces which is a record since he arrived and Fu Ni was 9.7kilos. So right now the keepers are picking up and average of 25 kilos of poo every day!!! We are getting very strong over here on pandas, with the weighing of all the faeces and bamboo.
The interest in Wang Wang and Fu Ni’s poo doesn’t stop there either! We record what it looks like too and take samples of it every 5 days. Because it passes through their stomachs so quickly we can see exactly what they have been eating. So if they decide to eat some culm of bamboo, then some carrot and cake, followed by some leaf, it would come out in that exact order! The culm looks just like pine bark or chip, the carrot looks just like chopped up carrot and the leaf simply looks like lawn clippings! These animals are so cool that even their poo doesn’t smell! Lucky for all the keepers over here as we do pick up a lot!
So there you go guys, a bit of an insight into some of what we do over here at pandas. Hope it was interesting for you all! It still makes me laugh that poo has become such a big part of our lives over here!
Till next time!
Simone
Senior Panda Keeper, Adelaide Zoo
written by michelle Herbert, August 13, 2010
They are such a delight and so cute too. Also loved your pelican display. Everyone keep up the wonderful work that you
all are doing. Michelle
-
- +0
-
-
written by Anna, August 10, 2010
But why ? Do they "extract" nutrition from bamboo so quickly that they "eject" so quickly too ?
What about their teeth ? Chewing on bamboo all day long must use them...
I love Funi and Wang Wang and look with great pleasure on your video and web cam.
Thank you all and good luck with your Pandas !
Kind regards,
Anna
-
- +0
-
-
I still think you have the best job in the world!! Would love to be delving in Panda Poo!!!
Cheers,
Michelle