Society

US zoo says goodbye to pair of bears

By Susan Mittleman (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-14 10:24

SAN DIEGO, California - The San Diego Zoo is preparing for a historic sendoff for two of its most beloved residents: giant pandas Su Lin and Zhen Zhen.

The two sisters will be heading to their new home in China, at the Bifengxia Base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Ya'an, as part of the international collaboration to save this endangered species.

Pandas Su Lin (top) and Zhen Zhen will head to China this year. [Ken Bohn / San Diego Zoo]

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This will mark the first time that two foreign-born pandas from one zoo will be sent together to China. In 2004, when it sent Hua Mei, the San Diego Zoo became the first zoo to send a giant panda born in the United States and survive adulthood to China. She was joined three years later by her brother, Mei Sheng, another native San-Diegan. And earlier this year, Tai Shan, from the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington DC traveled to China to join her fellow American-born pandas.

Giant pandas, even those born in the United States, are here on a research loans from China to help in conservation efforts. The San Diego Zoo, one of four US zoos with giant pandas, is collaborating with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in studies of behavior, ecology, genetics and conservation of wild pandas living in the Foping Nature Reserve.

"We will miss Su Lin and Zhen Zhen, but as a conservation organization we are aware of the significant breeding contribution they will make in the preservation of this critically endangered species at another panda conservation center such as Bifengxia," said Carmi Penny, director of collections and husbandry science as well as one of the directors for the San Diego Zoo's giant panda conservation unit. "The birth of these two pandas and their time spent in San Diego has helped us extend our knowledge of panda biology. With this information we can aid in the conservation of giant pandas."

Some of the most valuable contributions made by Su Lin and Zhen Zhen was groundbreaking data on panda hearing sensitivity. The data will allow scientists to better estimate how noise from human activities may impact giant pandas in the wild.

According to the terms of the San Diego loan, China decides the location of the home for any giant panda cub born at the zoo after its third birthday. The final arrangements are still being worked out for sending 5-year-old Su Lin and 3-year-old Zhen Zhen to Bifengxia, where sister Hua Mei and brother Mei Sheng already reside. The public will be able to see them until Aug 16, and their departure for China is scheduled to happen at the end of the summer. The animals will be accompanied by two members of the San Diego panda team, an animal care supervisor and a senior veterinarian.

Bai Yun, the mother of Su Lin and Zhen Zhen, (and Hua Mei and Mei Sheng) has given birth to a total of five cubs in San Diego. Her youngest, 1-year-old Yun Zi, will remain with her at the San Diego Zoo, for now.

The 40-hectare zoo, which focuses on conservation and research, has a live panda-cam enabling fans from around the world to watch the progress of these amazing animals as they grow.