Meeting Some Older Cubs
Friday, 29 April 2011 10:25
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Hi everyone!
Well, we have been very lucky over here! Luo Bo has been very hospitable with us indeed... Jason, myself and Cooper (from Washington Zoo) were able to go in with 6 two year old cubs! Incredible.
They didn't tell us how old they were going to be, so we assumed under a year old. That was not the case at all! They were full of energy and we had to be quite fast during our hello encounter... just because there were so many of them! We gave them bowls of warm milk and some carrots. It was so amazing!
Of course, as we have been so fortunate with everything so far on the trip our luck had to run out a little, with my camera batteries dying within a few seconds of going in and then Jason's dying shortly after! We were able to grab one or two very quick photos but that was it. So it was more about just enjoying the experience of it all.
While this encounter was amazing it was even better when we were told that the centre is now starting to leave some of the new cubs with their mothers for longer periods of time. In the wild a cub would spend until around 18 months with its mother. In captivity however successful breeding programmes have been working hard to increase the captive population to a more sustainable number. This has now been reached and therefore it allows the cubs to be able to stay with their mothers for a longer period of time.
We had to say goodbye to Hobby and Cooper this week as there time in Ya'an had come to an end. No doubt though that we will all stay in contact with each other. By forming strong relationships within other institutions it allows much better communication and opens the doors to information to freely being past around.
Simone
Senior Panda Keeper, Adelaide Zoo
It's better to enjoy these moments intensely than to be disturbed by taking photos, even if more photos would be for us to share.
Mother Panda is certainely a good and affectionate teacher for her cub, and very patient - I remember observing with amazement Mei Xiang and her son Tai Shan - there is nothing better than mummy !
Kind regards