San Diego Zoo Panda Cub Gets Cuter with Each Exam
- Details
- Created on Thursday, 30 August 2012 20:57
- Written by Imperial Valley News
San Diego, California - No word yet on whether it is a girl or a boy, but the new baby panda at the San Diego Zoo is healthy and growing. In an early morning examination by veterinarians, the month-old cub was measured and weighed.
Animal care staff was able to take longer with the exam this morning as both cub and mother remained calm throughout the brief separation. Veterinarians noted a full belly on the cub, who had just finished nursing before the exam. The cub weighs more than a kilogram (2.2 pounds) and seems to be developing normally.
"The cub is healthy and appears to have all its paws and claws where they should be," said P.K. Robbins, D.V.M., veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo. "This year, animal care staff started doing some tactile desensitization. Each day, [animal care staff] go into the den and give the cub a gentile stroke. So, during the exam they did the same sort of gentle stroke around the cub's head and that is a reassuring thing for the cub, makes it feel at home, makes it feel safe, and that really enhances our exam because the cub is quiet and at ease."
The pair will remain in the den for several months, where they can be observed by the public on the San Diego Zoo's live Panda Cam at http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam .
The San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy is dedicated to bringing endangered species back from the brink of extinction. The work of the Conservancy includes onsite wildlife conservation efforts (representing both plants and animals) at the San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, and international field programs in more than 35 countries. In addition, San Diego Zoo Global manages the Anne and Kenneth Griffin Reptile Conservation Center, the Frozen ZooTM, Native Seed Gene Bank, the Keauhou and Maui Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Centers, the San Clemente Loggerhead Shrike Breeding Facility, the Cocha Cashu Biological Research Station, the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center, and a 800-acre biodiversity reserve adjacent to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by The Foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego.