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Dorothy Copus Brush Giant pandas make a big splash in San Diego San Diego is a great town to visit, so when
I received the information that the 1998 National Society of
Newspaper Columnist's annual meeting would be held in that sunny
city I registered. At the opening session we were surprised and
delighted by an unexpected visitor. Joan Embery, often seen on
the "Tonight Show" representing the San Diego Zoo,
walked in with a well-behaved cheetah on a lease. The goodwill
ambassador for the world-famous zoo also brought an Andean condor
to welcome us. The program planners had left the afternoon
free for those who wished to visit the highly rated zoo. It covers
100 acres and is home to 4,000 rare and endangered animals. Every
visitor is presented with a large colorful map at the admission
booth. I wandered around enjoying the wildlife and all the exotic
plantings, because this is also an official botanical garden
with more than 6,500 plants. Even with the map I found it hard to get my
bearings, so it wasn't by design but luck that I found myself
at the giant panda research area. A large sign cautioned visitors
to move quietly through the exhibit so as not to disturb the
adult pair in residence. Fortunately, the 240-pound female, Bai Yun,
was in full view wandering around her glass-enclosed home. She
moved about lazily, climbed one of the trees and came back down.
Her mate, Shi Shi, was nowhere to be seen. At that time everyone connected with the zoo
was waiting anxiously to see if Bai Yun was pregnant. She had
been artificially inseminated with sperm from Shi Shi. This procedure
entails many difficulties and has had limited success. Because
the giant pandas are a critically endangered species, everyone
was hoping this method worked. At last count in the 1980s, only
about 1,000 giant pandas remained in the wilds of southwestern
China. The mission of the team for the Society of
San Diego's Zoological Center for Reproduction of Endangered
Species (CRES) is to unravel some of the biological mysteries
of giant panda behavior and reproduction. This pair is on loan
from the People's Republic of China for 12 years. Each year during
this period the Zoological Society of San Diego will contribute
$1 million to China's national panda plan for increasing panda
preserves, establishing wildlife corridors connecting the preserves
and study on the breeding of pandas in captivity. Viewing that rare giant panda was a definite
highlight of my visit to San Diego. In Chinese, Bai Yun means
"white cloud," and for the next year every so often
a little white cloud floated across my mind with a question mark.
Pregnant or not? On Aug. 21, 1999 came the answer. Bai Yun
gave birth to a tiny, less than five ounces, baby panda. Then
came another period of suspense. Baby pandas have been born in
captivity before but did not survive beyond two weeks. This cub
is the first to be born in the Western Hemisphere since 1990. According to Chinese tradition, newborns are
not given a name until they have reached 100 days old. In a ceremony
at the zoo, Dec. 1, the 102-day-old girl cub was named Hua Mei
(pronounced "Wah May") and has a double meaning
"China USA" or "Splendid Beauty." On the
day of her naming, she weighed 11 pounds and was just learning
to walk. An appealing picture appeared in the papers just last
week showing momma Bai Yun cuddling her 6-month-old Hua Mei. Then in November of last year, two more giant
pandas arrived in Atlanta where they will be at home in the zoo
for the next 10 years. Again each year China will receive $1
million to be used for research on the giant pandas. For years China loaned these instant attractions
on a short-term basis to zoos for about $100,000 a month. Although
the money was to be used for conservation on investigation it
became apparent the money was being diverted by officials for
other uses. Several world conservation groups intervened and
in 1998 they were successful in seeing a U.S. regulation which
forces zoos to borrow pandas for years at a time, fund research
on pandas and support their habitat in China. If Atlanta has the same success as San Diego,
many of us can get to that city easily to ooh and aah a giant
panda family. |