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"Rusty" the Red Panda was entertained by the lively crowd while catching some rays. Red pandas are generally solitary and secretive creatures, most active at night. At other times, however, they usually rest up in trees, for as much as 15 hours of the day. Red pandas are primarily endangered due to habitat loss caused by deforestation for timber, fuel, and agricultural use. It is estimated that fewer than 2,500 remain in the wild.
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Photograph © by Regan Photography (2010). All Rights Reserved. This photograph should not be used on websites, blogs or anywhere for that matter without my explicit written permission.
We spent a couple of hours with the pandas at the panda reserch center in Chengdu but all they did was eating.
Tai Shan and his mother were playfully wrestling this summer when she accidentally knocked him off the top of an indoor rock. The National Zoo's prized panda cub tumbled about five feet and let out a loud squeal when he hit the floor.
The cub was more scared than hurt. But about as fast as mom Mei Xiang could rush to his side, the animal park was bombarded with calls and e-mails from worried panda fans who had witnessed the mishap on the zoo's webcam.
No doubt about it: Tai Shan is one of the most watched celebrities in Washington. He draws crowds and special guests, including first lady Laura Bush and the Queen of Bhutan. He has a large following that monitors his antics on the zoo's Web site, generating 21 million hits. Zoo staff and volunteers spend hours each day charting his development and behavior. This month, he and his mother share the cover of National Geographic magazine.
Today, as he turns 1 year old, zoo officials will lead the public in toasting Tai Shan with a four-hour birthday celebration. He'll get a fruitsicle instead of a cake.
The milestone also marks a halfway point: An agreement with China calls for sending the cub there when he turns 2 for future breeding. There is hope within zoo circles of keeping Tai Shan in Washington a bit longer, because his services as a breeding partner probably won't be needed until he is 5 or 6.
Letters and e-mails arrive at the zoo daily from around the world, describing how the panda has brightened lives. The back room of the Panda House showcases an impressive inventory of gifts and mail for the cub and keepers -- everything from cards and photos to wedding invitations and elaborately knitted mufflers with the cub's name.
After decades of breeding disappointments, during which the zoo's previous panda pair failed to produce a surviving cub, animal lovers have marveled to see Tai Shan grow from a helpless, hairless creature no bigger than a stick of butter into a 56-pound furry symbol of scientific perseverance.
"It's been wonderful," said Lisa Stevens, the zoo's panda curator. "You try for something for so long, and then it finally happens. It's a terrific reward for the team that has worked on this all these years."
The team, in this case, is a dedicated group of zoo scientists, keepers and volunteers. They collected and analyzed panda data from Mei Xiang and her mate, Tian Tian, and their predecessors, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing. They studied the intimate details of bear biology and worked to maximize the notoriously narrow window of opportunity -- about three days a year -- for breeding this endangered species.
These efforts paid off March 11, 2005, although it would be four months before the zoo would know it. That winter morning, with the pandas failing to mate naturally and hormone tests of Mei Xiang's urine indicating peak fertility, she was anesthetized. Reproductive scientist JoGayle Howard used a tiny laparoscope with a light to perform artificial insemination.
At Chengdu Panda Base Centre
My video clips of panda:
The Naughty Lovable: www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_IZS_0TCgQ
The Panda Who Wanted to Climb a Tree: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyJjUAOnFnQ
Panda Rival: www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8lMffsLLzo
Panda's Toy: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBcxvjMvwoA
Baby Panda Bottle Feeding: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pHvlLYw5mQ
Panda Wrestling: www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoHuuW0jO0A
A Winter Treat: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZWbEdkvyTE
Lazy Panda: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG59UW2zXME
Panda Exercise: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd5qvQrXQgo
It's Finger Licking Good: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmvgM1G-I04
Feeding Panda Cakes outside Panda's Pen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehrI4i4DoTM
Feeding Panda Cakes inside Panda's Pen: www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ZEmP7XX9c
The Making of Panda Cake: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpTbaASSKDs