Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo News 2015

Too bad about the panda cub. I'm sure the staff is devastated but the ray of hope is that they have another cub to focus on. It would probably be much more upsetting if they had lost their only cub.
 
Posted 30 mins ago on the zoo's twitter -

9am tomorrow: Press conference announcing gender + paternity of panda cubs. We will live stream via @periscopetv on @Twitter
 
The living cub is a male and his father is Tian Tian

The deceased cub was also male and his father was also Tian Tian.
 
The zoo says they believe the cub died of aspiration of food material into the respirtory system.

Don't know if I heard this right or even said this right or if this even makes sense but hey I tried.
 
The zoo says Mei Xiang has started to leave the den to go to "relieve herself" but goes back as soon as the cub squeals.
 
Giant Panda Cub is a Boy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se-wVOn89Ok

It's a Boy! National Zoo's Surviving Newborn Panda Is Male

It's a Boy! National Zoo's Surviving Newborn Panda Is Male - ABC News

It's a Boy! National Zoo Reveals Sex of Cub; Tian Tian Is The Dad

It's a boy! The panda team at the National Zoo say the surviving giant panda cub born last weekend is a boy, and his father is the National Zoo's own Tian Tian.
The zoo made the announcement at a press conference Friday, revealing details about the cub and the death of its fraternal twin, a boy also sired by Tian Tian.

It's a Boy! National Zoo Reveals Sex of Cub; Tian Tian Is The Dad | NBC4 Washington
 
It's a Boy!

Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics confirmed that the giant panda cub born Aug. 22 at the National Zoo is male. A paternity analysis showed that Tian Tian is the cub's father. Scientists also confirmed the deceased cub Mei Xiang delivered was a male, also sired by Tian Tian. The cubs were fraternal twins. Watch the full press conference on Periscope.

To determine gender, Zoo scientists sequenced a short fragment of the zinc finger protein gene. The method was developed by SCBI scientists and veterinarians and previously determined to reliably identify the sex of pandas.

For the paternity tests they compared genotype profiles of DNA samples from the cubs to profiles from Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and Hui Hui, a panda living at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong in China. The semen sample from Hui Hui was frozen and flown from China to SCBI's genome research bank at the National Zoo. As a result of previous conservation research, SCBI's Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics had blood samples from Mei Xiang and Tian Tian on hand. They compared the DNA of the cubs' cheek cells to the adult pandas' DNA samples for the tests. Veterinarians collected the cheek-cell samples with a small swab during a preliminary health check Aug. 24.

"What we have learned will greatly add to our body of knowledge about artificial inseminations in pandas," said Rob Fleischer, head of the Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics. "Determining the pedigree relationships of a cub is a key aspect of helping to maintain a genetically diverse population. Our ability to assess the cub's lineage will help our colleagues ensure that he finds a suitable mate."

Developed from the experience and success of Chinese partners and other zoos, the hand-rearing protocol provided the panda team with several strategies to manage twin cubs. Swapping the cubs between mother and hand-rearing is a proven method that enables zoo staff to best care for twins in the event that the mother cannot manage two cubs, which was the case with Mei Xiang. When swapping the cubs became difficult, the panda team had in their possession the smaller cub, which was losing weight, needed calories and energy, and was at risk if he remained away from Mei Xiang for a prolonged period of time. The cub's best option for survival was to receive supplemental feedings via bottle and tube, but both techniques present risks. The team witnessed some regurgitation of food during one feeding, so the cub was started on antibiotics as a preventative measure.

The smaller cub was with Mei Xiang from about 2 p.m., Aug. 25, until the morning of Aug. 26. When the panda team swapped the cubs, they assessed the cub and had concerns because he had not increased in weight, appeared weaker and exhibited possible respiratory issues. He died shortly after 2 p.m. Based on the necropsy's gross findings, Zoo pathologists and veterinarians determined the most likely cause of death to be complications associated with aspiration of food material into the cub's respiratory system resulting in the development of pneumonia.

Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated April 26 and 27. The first procedure used a combination of sperm cells from Hui Hui and Tian Tian. The second procedure also used thawed sperm from Hui Hui and sperm refrigerated overnight from Tian Tian. The Zoo live-streamed portions of the first procedure on Twitter using Periscope and live-posted to Instagram using #PandaStory.

The David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat has been closed to the public since Aug. 20, and will remain closed until further notice to provide quiet for Mei Xiang and her cub. Both will be visible on the panda cams. Due to a high volume of viewers, you may experience trouble playing the panda cams. Please try to refresh the page to reestablish your connection; or if you'd like to watch the cam uninterrupted, we suggest downloading the Smithsonian's National Zoo App. Visitors can see Tian Tian and Bao Bao in the outdoor habitat.

From the "Giant Panda Bulletin"
 
A Sea Lion's First Date At Smithsonian's National Zoo

It’s hard to believe that the slippery 220 pound animal is considered petite. In the concrete hallway where he stands, the only thing that seems petite about him are his ears, which are so impossibly small it’s shocking he can actually hear anything out of them. But from the way he waddles over to animal keepers and responds to their commands, it is clear he is listening. This is important, because today Jetty needs to be on his best behavior: for the first time, he’s exploring his new home: an exhibit at the National Zoo.

Jetty is a sea lion that was born in the wild but has spent most of his life in captivity. He waits patiently as animal keepers slide back a heavy wooden door, beyond which is the exhibit pool. Without hesitating, Jetty plunges into these new waters.

Animal keeper Chelsea Grubb says Jetty is here for a very specific job. Grubb hopes that she will be able to, “see the results [of the job] next year.”

https://wamu.org/programs/metro_con...lions_first_date_at_smithsonians_national_zoo

mc-sealion.jpg


Jetty, a male sea lion, pauses on the threshhold of the water at the exhibit at the Smithsonian National Zoo
 
Panda Cub Beginning to Get His Black-and-White Markings, National Zoo Says

It's a panda! The National Zoo's nine-day-old panda cub is beginning to get his black and white markings.

A pair of newborn cubs were born Aug. 22 to the zoo's female giant panda, Mei Xiang, but the smaller of the two died Wednesday. The zoo has said that the larger, surviving cub is doing well.

Panda cubs are born tiny, nearly hairless and blind. What little fur the newborns have is white. But on Sunday, the zoo released three images captured on its panda cams, showing the cub's new markings are beginning to show up. The cub's ears and patches around his still-closed eyes appear darker, as do his arms. Ultimately, his legs and torso will also darken, but it's unclear in the zoo's photos whether those markings are showing up yet.

Panda Cub Beginning to Get His Black-and-White Markings, National Zoo Says | NBC4 Washington
 
Smith-Midland Completes Design-Build Project for Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC

Smith-Midland Corporation (OTCQB: SMID) - Completed this summer, Smith-Midland Corporation (SMC) has manufactured an 850 foot long x 30 foot high simulated stone retaining wall for the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC. The wall was needed to replace existing structures along an extensive drop off along the entrance road above parking lot C.

Smith-Midland Completes Design-Build Project for Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, DC
 
dcpandafan said:
Swapping the cubs between mother and hand-rearing is a proven method that enables zoo staff to best care for twins in the event that the mother cannot manage two cubs, which was the case with Mei Xiang. When swapping the cubs became difficult.....
Click to expand...

Although I know its regularly practised in China, swapping Panda twins must be a very difficult and potentially stressful process, even if the mother leaves the birth area voluntarily e.g. to feed and so is not aware each time the cubs are exchanged every few hours or so. But does she become at all confused by these changes, or by different smells perhaps ? I think may be the death of the smaller cub solved that particular problem for them here, allow for- hopefully- a straightfoward rearing of one cub by the mother.
 
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dcpandafan said:
A Sea Lion's First Date At Smithsonian's National Zoo

It’s hard to believe that the slippery 220 pound animal is considered petite. In the concrete hallway where he stands, the only thing that seems petite about him are his ears, which are so impossibly small it’s shocking he can actually hear anything out of them. But from the way he waddles over to animal keepers and responds to their commands, it is clear he is listening. This is important, because today Jetty needs to be on his best behavior: for the first time, he’s exploring his new home: an exhibit at the National Zoo.

Jetty is a sea lion that was born in the wild but has spent most of his life in captivity. He waits patiently as animal keepers slide back a heavy wooden door, beyond which is the exhibit pool. Without hesitating, Jetty plunges into these new waters.

Animal keeper Chelsea Grubb says Jetty is here for a very specific job. Grubb hopes that she will be able to, “see the results [of the job] next year.”

https://wamu.org/programs/metro_con...lions_first_date_at_smithsonians_national_zoo

mc-sealion.jpg


Jetty, a male sea lion, pauses on the threshhold of the water at the exhibit at the Smithsonian National Zoo
Click to expand...

Meet Jetty, our new male sea lion! Sea lions mate in a group of females called a harem. Males compete for the females’ attention and defend their territory against other males. As our Zoo, Jetty doesn’t have to defend a territory, as he is our only male. Biologist Rebecca Sturniolo says Jetty has developed a good relationship with his keepers since arriving at the Zoo, and he fits in with the other sea lions (especially Calli and Summer). Come by and visit Jetty on American Trail and listen in as WAMU tags along as he explores his exhibit for the first time

zoos facebook
 
dcpandafan said:
What the ‘Save the Pandas’ campaign reveals

Falling attendance at the National Zoo is behind the hype

For years, the National Zoo has come under fire, including in a blistering 2013 Congressional report over gross negligence, a scathing 2004 National Academy of Sciences report into animal deaths at the zoo and, somewhere in between, an investigation revealing that the zoo had disposed of some wild animals by sending them to a canned hunting outfit and to a petting zoo. Judging by the zoo’s current stage-managed “pandamonium,” its practices still need to be examined closely and the hype seen for what it is.

From the moment of the first panda birth, the newborns were handled as if they were trinkets — picked up and turned this way and that under the camera lights, which is inarguably harmful and certainly not beneficial to them. Showing them off to the cameras over and over again is done to bolster interest in the zoo and thus attendance.

INGRID NEWKIRK: Falling zoo attendance behind panda hype - Washington Times

Don't know if this is a trust able source because I haven't heard of them before but I thought I would post it.
Click to expand...

The article is ridiculous hyperbole and a shameful piece of propaganda from PETA. It would be best if we all disregarded it immediately.
 
dcpandafan said:
Sorry for posting it. Even though it's now been two years since I joined i'm still a nub on here.
Click to expand...

Don't apologise for posting it. Nobody here should be afraid of engaging with critical voices, no matter how moronic they are.
 
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