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San Diego born pandas in China

Posted by Jeroen Jacobs | Date: 2013 12 04 | In: San Diego Zoo

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Megan Owen, associate director for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, wrote this update about the San Diego born pandas in China:

Traveling to China is always an adventure, and the prospect of seeing old friends and long-time colleagues at the International Panda Symposium in Chengdu was exciting! The symposium was truly a great opportunity to listen to scientists from around the world share their updates on current research projects, overviews of the incredible successes for panda conservation achieved over the last 20 years, and important directions for our conservation research efforts for the years to come. We also had an opportunity to visit the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding, where we saw the many panda cubs and young adult bears that have been born there in recent years. There is still so much to learn regarding pandas and their conservation, but it is amazing how far we’ve come in the past 20 years!

On this trip I was also able to check in with staff from Wolong and Bi Feng Xia regarding the status of the San Diego Zoo-born pandas. Having watched their births, first days of life, and years of development into healthy sub-adults, I think we all love to hear how Hua Mei, Su Lin, Zhen Zhen, and Mei Sheng are doing.

Hua Mei, our first-born cub, continues to show that she has her mother’s “good-mom” genes. Now 14 years old, she produced another cub (a male) on July 18, 2013, at Wolong, making her the mother of 10! Both mother and her newest cub are doing well.

Eight-year-old Su Lin had a normal estrus this past spring at Bi Feng Xia and mated naturally several times but did not produce any cubs this year. Regardless, she is doing well and living at Bi Feng Xia. Ten-year-old Mei Sheng mated naturally this year at Bi Feng Xia, too, but we don’t know yet whether he has sired any cubs, as DNA tests are not performed right away to determine fatherhood.

Little Zhen Zhen, now six years old, is currently weighing in at a robust 220 pounds (100 kilograms)! She mated in 2013 and produced a cub that, sadly, did not survive. Zhen Zhen is also living at Bi Feng Xia and doing well.

Source: San Diego Zoo

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