Xi Lan meets Po
Xi Lan and Po had an exciting day on Wednesday March 13, 2013. Zoo Atlanta put the 2 subadult pandas together for some social time.
Here is the explanation by Rebecca Snyder, Zoo Atlanta’s Curator of Mammals:
Giant panda subadults are more social than adults. They have been found to associate with each other occasionally in the wild, and breeding centers in China often house subadults together. So, we decided to try putting the brothers together to see if they would enjoy each other’s company. I think it was a good experience for Xi Lan, but not for Po. Xi Lan spent much of the time draped over his brother and biting him. Xi Lan was gentle (for a bear) and playful. But I think Po felt overwhelmed and he became defensive. Xi Lan wasn’t good about taking cues from Po to back off. So, after about 40 minutes, we distracted the boys with food and separated them. Given Po’s less than positive reaction, we are not planning to put them together again. We did get some cute pictures of the two of them together.
Source: Zoo Atlanta
