Zoo Prepares For Panda Birthday Bash
Celebration To Include City Wide Events And Special Cake
As the zoo prepares an elaborate party for their 1-year-old giant panda, the cuddly cub is expected to spend the day as she usually does - ignoring humans.
While zoologists celebrate what they've learned about panda behavior by presenting her with a special ice cake, the birthday girl will likely stick with her daily routine of sleeping, eating bamboo, lounging on her favorite tree branch 12 feet up, or hiding in her den.
During Monday's birthday bash, visitors can sign a huge card, sing "Happy Birthday," and expect hour-long waits with the hope of being lucky enough to get a peek at the 60-pound fuzzy Hua Mei and her panda parents that often cool off in their den hidden from view.
Julie Marcus, 34, of Washington, D.C. and her 5-year-old daughter, Samantha, recently raced to the enclosure when they heard the area might close due to the afternoon heat.
"There was a 45-minute wait and even after they announced the exhibit might close, very few people got out of line," Marcus said Wednesday. They made it just in time to be among the last visitors to see the mother and daughter pandas.
"It was worth it," Samantha said.
Zookeepers feel the same way about their most precious and popular cub. As the first surviving Ailuropoda melanoleuca born in the United States, Hua Mei has taught scientists a lot about the way these solitary and endangered species live.
U.S. and Chinese researchers have learned that pandas mark territory much like dogs. A male panda can tell if a female is in heat or if another panda is invading his territory from sniffing the scent that lasts up to 4 months.
Scientists believe these markings, along with different vocalizations, are crucial for mating and dividing territory.
With fewer than 1,000 Pandasliving in China's forests today and 130 in captivity, research is also being done to improve low fertility rates, which are about 40 percent for females and 80 percent for males.
Mating is difficult because female pandas are fertile in the spring for only 2 or 3 days, the San Diego Zoo's panda team leader Don Lindburg said.
Chinese and American scientists have been working at the Wolong Nature Preserve in Sichuan, China, to come up with better ways to hand-feed cubs. The Wolong center has been able to raise about six giant panda cubs over the past year, including two that were abandoned by their mothers.
All three of the San Diego Zoo's pandas - Hua Mei, and her parents, Bai Yun, 9, and Shi Shi, 21 - are on loan from China. The contract expires in 2004 but the zoo is hoping for an extension and is exploring the possibility of getting another male because of Shi Shi's advanced age.
When Bai Yun became pregnant in April 1999 through artificial insemination, zoologists immediately turned their attention to parenting and panda development.
On Aug. 21, 1999, Bai Yun delivered her furless baby weighing 4 or 5 ounces. Scientists were fascinated from day one by the mother's care.
To the zoo's relief, Bai Yun immediately began cradling the tiny pink cub after delivery and devoted all of her time to nursing the infant.
"She began postpartum fasting by not drinking until the fifth day and not eating until her ninth," Lindburg said.
The mother showed quite an attachment to her newborn, cuddling her her infant in her arms during feedings, similar to the way women breast feed.
Zoologists were nervous during the first few months, the most critical for a panda cub because they are underdeveloped at birth.
Hua Mei's growth since then has been typical, opening her eyes on day 45, taking her first steps at 3 months old and finally venturing out on her own at 5 months old.
Today, the cub stands about 2? feet tall and has attracted about 3 million visitors to the zoo. Although still dependent on her mother's milk, Hua Mei has teeth to gnash bamboo, carrots, apples and biscuits.
Pandas generally survive 20 years in captivity and Hua Mei is expected to live a healthy life. She shows it everyday by climbing to her favorite resting spot on a tree branch 12 feet up where everyone can see her.
Her independence will be part of her development, Lindburg said. Eventually she will have less and less contact with her mother because pandas are not social like a troop of monkeys.
"They don't often see each other in the wild. The usual response is to move away," he said.
Growing apart may be good because by spring 2001, Bai Yun is expected to be ready to become pregnant again.
And that would be just fine for zoo visitors such as 13-year-old A.J. Mughni, who was on vacation with his family from New Mexico.
"I like the baby the most because it's smaller and more fluffy," he said.
