Ueno Zoo giant pandas back at Ueno

Chlidonias

Chlidonias

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Quake-Surviving Pandas to Debut as Tokyo's Ueno Zoo Opens to Public Again - Bloomberg
A thousand people waited for the gates to open at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo this morning, drawn by the debut of giant pandas Shin Shin and Ri Ri, survivors of the deadliest earthquakes for decades in both China and Japan.

“I’ve never seen such a crowd, the man at the front of the line was here since yesterday morning,” said Kazuo Sato, a security guard at the gate since April 2010. “Pandas really represent Ueno Zoo.”

Shin Shin, the female, and Ri Ri arrived in Tokyo on Feb. 21, just 18 days before a magnitude-9.0 quake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan, leaving almost 28,000 dead or missing and a nuclear power plant crippled and leaking radiation.

Both had been housed at the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in Sichuan when a magnitude-7.8 quake struck about 180 kilometers (110 miles) away on May 12, 2008, killing almost 70,000 and leaving millions homeless.

“These are two very rare pandas, to have experienced both of the earthquakes,” said Tetsurou Nogami, a Tokyo metropolitan government official responsible for the zoo. “They were nervous right after the earthquake, but lately they’ve become very energetic and have good appetites.”

Tokyo will donate $950,000 a year to panda research in China in return for the two pandas. Elsewhere in Japan, one giant panda resides at the Kobe Oji Zoo and eight live in the Wakayama Adventure World.
Zoo Reopens

Ueno Zoo reopened today after two weeks of closure as aftershocks from the March 11 temblor continued to ripple through the country, and to conserve electricity amid rolling blackouts in the capital region. Nogami expects a flood of visitors as school spring breaks have started.

Ueno was one of the first zoos outside China to house giant pandas in 1972, when a pair arrived in Tokyo as a gift to mark the restoration of diplomatic ties between the two nations. Their arrival sparked an increase of almost 50 percent in visitors to the zoo in the following year.

Four-year-old Sakura Sato made her first charity donation today while viewing the pandas, contributing to help victims of the March 11 disaster.

“She begged to come and see the pandas,” Mika, her mother said. “They’re very cute and it’s great to see them back at Ueno again.”

Noting that Shin Shin appears to be in heat, Nogami said the birth of a baby panda at Ueno would be bright news for the nation.

“We’re reopening to bring some smiles to Japan,” Nogami said. “I hope the pandas can have a positive effect on people.”
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Tokyo zoo hopes for pitter-patter of panda paws | Reuters
The female panda at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo may be pregnant, raising hopes that the pitter-patter of tiny panda paws will be heard there for the first time in more than two decades.

Two pandas, female Shin Shin and male Ri Ri, arrived in Tokyo from China in February 2011 and went on view to the public soon after a devastating earthquake and tsunami the following month, providing some welcome good news.

Hopes for a baby began after the two pandas were recorded on camera mating earlier this year.

Those hopes have risen further over the past month as 6-year-old Shin Shin began showing signs of pregnancy such as diminished appetite, more time sleeping and hormonal changes.

"At Ueno Zoo we've had three panda births, but the last one was in 1988, 24 years ago. So to have a birth for the first time in 24 years is obviously something we're looking forward to," said Yutaka Fukuda, vice deputy director at the zoo.

Panda fans have flocked to the zoo to see Shin Shin before she disappears from public view on July 3. The birth could take place any time from July to August.

"I came to the zoo for the first time in a while because I heard there may be cause for celebration soon, and I really wanted to see the pandas," said 45-year-old Michio Souma.

Although the zoo has already begun preparations for the birth, such as amassing incubators and running "birth drills", pandas often show false signs of pregnancy and there is no scientific way to confirm that a baby may be on the way.

"We will continue observations, but actually we won't know until the very last minute, when she has begun giving birth, if this is a false pregnancy or the real thing," Fukuda said.

"Of course we are hoping for the best."
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Shin Shin the panda gives birth in Tokyo zoo - Yahoo! News
Shin Shin the panda gave birth to a much-awaited baby at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo on Thursday, the first time a panda has been born there in 24 years.

Shin Shin and her partner Ri Ri, arrived in Tokyo from China in February 2011 and went on view to the public soon after a devastating earthquake and tsunami the following month, providing some welcome good news.

Television footage showed six-year-old Shin Shin holding what appeared to be a tiny object to her chest. Zoo officials said the baby squealed loudly.

"This is a really good thing," a veterinarian who works with the zoo told NHK national television.

Hopes for a baby began after the two pandas were recorded on camera mating earlier this year, and grew over the past month as Shin Shin began showing signs of pregnancy such as a diminished appetite, more time sleeping and hormonal changes.

Keepers at the zoo announced the chance of a pregnancy last week, but with no scientific means of confirming it, they had no choice but to wait for the birth, which took place shortly after noon. The sex of the baby remains unknown.

The birth was the fourth at the zoo but the first to take place after a natural mating, rather than artificial insemination.
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Japan is probably now close on being second in breeding giant pandas outside their home range country (close on US ..).
 
sad news

Baby giant panda born in Tokyo zoo dies - Yahoo! News
A baby giant panda born last week at a Tokyo zoo died of pneumonia on Wednesday, according to park officials who had initially hailed the birth as rare success for Japan's captive breeding programme.

The unnamed infant, Ueno zoo's first baby panda born in 24 years and its only one conceived from natural sexual intercourse, succumbed to the illness just a week after its birth sparked excitement across Japan.

The zoo said keepers found the baby lying on its back against its mother Shin Shin's stomach.

"They administered a cardiac massage and other treatment, but unfortunately they confirmed its death at 8:30 am (2330 GMT)," it said.

Shin Shin and her mate Ri Ri were leased from China last year to the zoo operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan government at an annual cost of about one million dollars.

The baby was hailed in China, which has sometimes hostile relations with neighbouring Japan.

"The giant pandas are messengers of friendship," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said in response to news of the birth last week.

"We hope that people-to-people sentiment and overall relations between China and Japan can be promoted because of the birth of the cub."

China is famed for its "panda diplomacy", using the bears as diplomatic gifts to other countries. About 1,600 remain in the wild in China, with some 300 others in captivity worldwide -- mostly in China.

As many as 16 giant pandas have been born in Japan, according to reports.
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