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Chat - Saturday, September 12th, 2009.; Have a great weekend peeps!
Topic Started: Sep 12 2009, 03:46 AM (1,197 Views)
Artsy Mom
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<::: Panda Cub Well Conditioned

<3 Posted Image <3

Posted at 11:42 am September 11, 2009 by Amanda White

When keeper Holly brought the panda cub out for his second exam yesterday, I was quite surprised at how big he was! Indeed, he is what we would call “well conditioned!” And with milk on his lips, too! What a cutie!!

At this point, the cub’s eyes and ears are still closed, and this is normal. We expect the eyes and ears to open any time now, most likely before he is about 50 days old. Although we can begin to feel teeth below the gum line, we would not expect to see the teeth until he is 11 to 12 weeks old at the earliest. His lungs sound good, and his heart sounds strong, and he gave us a few vocalizations during the exam. And Mom has been feeding him very well!! Everything looks great!

It was an absolute joy to examine this little guy! Here at the Zoo, every day is an adventure, and I feel very lucky to be working with our panda cub!! How fun it will be to watch him grow!
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Naturegal
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:^^^: :candle: RIP 922 :candle: :^^^:
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Harpo516
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eaglepedia revisited

July 31, 2007

Internal Power System - large birds use extra energy to take off while small birds use their energy to keep warm! They need efficient energy supplies for their bodies and yet still be lightweight! As warm blooded animals, they must maintain a constant body temperature. All the inside organs of a bird run at high speed which makes for high energy and warmth, but shortens the life span of the bird.

The kinds of foods eaten by birds must be "high-octane", high in calories. They are seeds, nuts, fruits, fish, and rodents. The speed at which a hummingbird burns its food is 50 times greater than man. At night a bird must rest and their body functions slow down. A hummingbird would starve to death at night if his heart, respiration, and body temperature did not slow down.

AND

August 1, 2007

A bird needs to "burn" the food that it eats to generate energy. This is called combustion and oxygen is needed to do this. Oxygen is taken into the body through the lungs where it passes into the bloodstream. Birds need a very fast system to supply the energy they need so next to the lungs are air sacs. They never run out of breath. The lungs of birds work faster than ours. Birds fly into breath. The heart pumps all the blood through the system, beating much faster than other animals which makes the blood travel through a bird in seconds. Because of this fast blood travel, a bird's body temperature is 7 or 8 degrees higher than a mans.

http://wings.avkids.com/Book/Animals/inter...e/birds-01.html

AND

May 31, 2007

Humans breathe in with the air returning the same route to exit but birds breathe air that follows a one way route thru their respiratory system, making it extremely efficient. They have two small lungs where gas exchange occurs but they also have air sacs where no gas exchange occurs. The sacs keep the lungs perpetually inflated even when the bird is exhaling. Our lungs fill and empty. The bird takes in air that flows thru the air sacs, some located in their hollow bones, which directs air then into the tube like lungs where gas exchange happens, while both breathing in and out! The bird's respiratory system takes up 20% of a birds's volume (our respiratory system takes up only 5% of our volume). This system increases birds' respiratory efficiency and gives them enough oxygen for flight.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/birds/

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DISCLAIMER: Information here has been gathered in good faith from the internet and cannot be guaranteed to be totally accurate.
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Artsy Mom
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Panda Ducklings? :D


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Posted at 3:53 pm September 11, 2009 by Suzanne Hall

Dr. Pye jots down measurements being taken by Dr. Mike Schlegel, Zoo nutritionist, and Dr. White.
The veterinarians had another chance to examine our new panda cub on Thursday, September 10, and in doing so, Dr. Geoff Pye made an interesting discovery: this cub has webbed feet! There is a small stretch of skin between two toes on each of the back feet. While not a common trait for pandas, this has been very common to the population of pandas at the San Diego Zoo…at least since Gao Gao came to us. He, too, has webbed feet, and he has passed this trait along to each of his four panda cubs.

What could be the purpose of such a physical trait? It is unlikely to be a swimming adaptation. Pandas are not known to be regular, avid swimmers, although they do cross water when necessary in the wild. Perhaps this confers some specialized bamboo handling skill? Again, not likely, since the webbing seems restricted to the back feet rather than the forepaws.

There might be some benefit to adult males with webbing when engaging in foot scraping behavior. This interesting behavior is often seen when males are in high states of arousal around breeding encounters or when aggressively engaged with other adult males. Foot scraping with the hind paws leaves long troughs in the dirt, a visual signal, but may also leave some scent behind. We believe polar bears can leave pedal scent when they walk, and perhaps a panda’s foot scraping leaves some such scent behind as well. Either way, would webbed feet play a role in heightening the result of foot scraping? Since this behavior seems largely limited to males, and all of Gao Gao’s female cubs also have this characteristic, it may not have anything to do with this social signal at all.

One thing this webbing does highlight: Gao Gao is a valuable panda in the captive breeding program. Originally found near Fengtongzhai, he is likely to be at least somewhat genetically distinct from the wild pandas found in Wolong reserve. Characteristics like webbed feet underscore the unique genetic contribution our adult male can make to panda propagation.

Though webbed feet are an obvious sign of inheritance from Gao Gao to cub, undoubtedly there are more subtle genetic traits passed down as well. Personality, feeding and breeding success, general health and body size are all likely to be influenced by this to some degree. We’ll have to wait a little longer to see if this little boy is as mellow as his father, or as small, or has the same propensity for hand-stand scent marking.
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Artsy Mom
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Baiby Bliss - Just Me and My Mom - Chillin' :D

:wub: Posted Image Posted Image:wub:
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Topa Topa Hikers
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That's so sad Cheryl. How terrible the volunteer handler must feel.
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Artsy Mom
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<::: Report on the Delta1 Nest Cleanup:

"Delta1 has certainly been a nest of drama this season -- I guess not wanting to be outdone by last year! We have now gone and done a close-up review of the nest from a lift kindly donated by Lafarge Cement.

The nest structure is about 1/3 of what it should be. As some of you recall the adults did not return this spring and we thought something had happened to them. With the other parents busily preparing to nest at Delta OWL we decided to pull the Delta1 encoders and place them at OWL. Then of course the OWL pair sat for over 60 days on the eggs to no avail. Then about 3 of our group saw, on the same day, one of the adults of Delta1 sitting on her old nest.

We quickly transferred the encoders back to Frank's barn and started broadcasting from Delta1. Surprise surprise. The adult was still setting on two eggs but she had not done any rebuilding of the old nest. Rather, she seems to have come back rather late and without being seen by any of us and quickly dropped a couple of eggs into the old nest without adding any branches.

The result was a very poorly constructed nest with very little nest surface for either incubation or 'hopefully later' for chicks to move around. Then another surprise. An egg was found on the ground below the nest. Several people suggest the egg was an eagle's egg but I have not seen it or a photo of it. I have great difficulty in believing that an egg could fall 37 feet and not break. I think of the annual "Engineers Challenge" of throwing a chicken egg and not breaking it. A difficult challenge. Perhaps our eagles should be giving those engineers some tips.

In any case the adults continued to sit on the two eggs and both hatched. A few weeks later the next disaster. One of the chicks fell from the nest and died on impact with the ground. I then went to the tree -- great after-thought -- and erected a net around the tree base so that should the remaining chick fall it would be caught by the netting and be rescued.

Of course the second chick survived -- but it too fell from the nest when it was startled by the sound of a breaking branch. Our followers immediately called Bev and she was on site within minutes. This bird was rescued by Bev and taken to OWL for rehab. This chick, named Bandit, is still there today and will probably be released when the local salmon start to spawn. Bev always faces the dilemma of when to release rehabed birds. If the juvenile is held off from making its normal northern first flight in August then I suspect it is best to hold the bird until the salmon appear in our local rivers in November. This insures a good food supply close at hand -- a food source not requiring a 500 mile or more flight for a first dinner.

Now what? The nest is so rotted and 'melting' in place that I have concerns if the base is even a satisfactory starting place for a new nest. Hopefully the rest of the decaying mass will simply fall off the single supportive branch and allow a new nest to be started.

We are presently developing a series of artificial nests and perhaps one of these might be ready for placement in that region. I do not see trying to interfere with the existing nest. The placement of an entirely new artificial nest in the area seems more in turn with the Ministry's guidelines and common sense...."

David Hancock
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Artsy Mom
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It has been nearly impossible to get :clk: 's of Xi Lan because the Zoo Atlanta Panda Cam is having serious problems since last week :(

:'( Posted Image :'(

Blingee Image by Skipper
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Naturegal
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Penny - Thanks a million for all your photos and info.

Haven't been on the computer very much today, having back problems. If I sit too long I can't get up, really ouchy. :( I'm trying to move around as much as possible, but I can't completely straighten out. I have 2 degenerative discs in my lower back and they act up every now and then. Probably all due to standing in the kitchen and cooking too much. rofl We are going out for dinner tonight to a friends home, hope I can get in and out of the car.
:X:
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catM
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Carole, thanks for the zoo photos. Carrots, yum. LOL

Cheryl, that is so sad about #922. :candle:
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Naturegal
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Cat - Happy that you are enjoying the zoo pics. :wub:
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catM
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I hope to be able to get to our zoo this fall. I haven't been in a couple of years. Now that I have a power chair, it should be a lot easier to go. I could even go by myself; but it is more fun (sometimes) to go with someone. DH doesn't like zoos. He says the "cages" bother him too much. We don't really have cages, but I guess I understand his feelings.
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Topa Topa Hikers
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catM
Sep 12 2009, 12:21 PM
DH doesn't like zoos. He says the "cages" bother him too much.
I'm not a big Zoo fan either. I go, but some of the animlas look really sad.
I took this photo of a Snow Leopard at the Santa Barbara Zoo.
Posted Image
Snow Leopards belong on the roof of the world. :-)


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silveregal
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Hey Cat maybe You, Linda and I could meet at the Zoo sometime and have a mini Cruzer get together.
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catM
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A great idea, Barb!
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