Global competition for panda keepers enters final round!!!

Twelve semi-finalists have begun training for one of the world’s most coveted jobs – “pambassador” (panda ambassador) – at a research base in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

Chriszelda Pieterse, a finalist hoping to become a "pambassador", looks for Zhenzhen, a star panda, during the training program in Chengdu, China

Hailing from Sweden, South Africa, Japan, the United States and other countries, the finalists are the lucky few remaining from a pool of more than 60,000 hopefuls who had applied for the rare chance to work as a panda keeper for one month.

They will be trained on how to feed the pandas, interact with cubs, and monitor their growth.

Candidate Annie-Danielle Grenier, who hails from Canada, said that she likes the new task and feels completely homely. “I love to cook for my family and friends, and it’s not much different cooking for pandas. The ingredients are different but it’s exactly the same, and I cook with love when I cook for my family and it’s the same for the pandas”.

“It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to actually come here to work with pandas. This is like the most amazing experience I ever had” said Ashley Robertson from Alabama of the United States.

The six winners of the competition, organized by the base and conservation group WWF, will be chosen on September 29 based on how well they look after the pandas, understand conservation, and how good their communication skills are.

'Pambassadors' to Work for Caring Pandas

They will then spend a month working as panda keepers in Chengdu, witnessing the births of several baby pandas, blogging about their experiences (www.pandahome.com) to help raise awareness of the endangered animal’s plight.

As part of their ambassadorial role, Pambassadors will keep an Internet blog about their experiences.

The only giant panda born at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. to survive beyond infancy, Tai Shan is out of quarantine in China and is now on public display.

Tai Shan, the 4 1/2-year-old panda born and raised at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., made his first public appearance at the Ya’an Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base in Sichuan province,  China, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. after being kept in quarantine for a month after his trip from Washington.

Tai Shan eats bamboo in his new digs at the Ya'an Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base in Sichuan province. Staff said Tai Shan was adjusting well to his new surroundings in his "motherland."

Tai Shan’s new home is  a 320-square-foot (30-square-meter) room attached to a large garden enclosure at the Ya’an Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base, where staff said Tai Shan was adjusting well to his new surrounding in his “motherland.”

Tai Shan and Mei Lan are loaded aboard a Federal Express 777 freighter leaving Washington Dulles International Airport on February 4, 2010.

Tai Shan and another American-born giant panda, 3-year-old Mei Lan from Zoo Atlanta, were flown to China from the U.S. on a  “FedEx Panda Express.” in February. Their parents were lent to U.S. zoos for conservation purposes. Under a deal between China and the U.S., any lent pandas or cubs produced must eventually return to China where they become part of a breeding program.

Breeders were wasting no time planning how Tai Shan could help propagate his endangered species.

“We will give him enough freedom to reproduce. As soon as he becomes mature enough … we will provide him different sex partners for him to choose. Of course now his is still too young for it,” said an executive at the center.

Giant pandas in captivity typically reach breeding age at around 5 or 6 years.

About 1,600 giant pandas live in the wild, and another 290 are in captive-breeding programs worldwide, mainly in China.

More Adorable Giant Panda (including Tai Shan) Photos

Giant panda Tai Shan enjoys a cake during a farewell party at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. on Jan. 30, 2010. Hundreds of fans braved heavy snowfall Saturday to express goodbye to Tai Shan. Tai Shan, born at the National Zoo in 2005, will be carried back to China by a U.S. FedEx cargo plane on Feb. 4.

US-born panda cubs Tai Shan and Mei Lan will leave the United States to China on February 4 on board a special FedEx “Panda Express” flight bound for Chengdu, China.

On the morning of February 4, Tai Shan (aka butterstick) will have a police escort to Dulles international airport where he will board a FedEx’s new Boeing 777F aircraft specially decked out for the occasion with a 40 foot by 40 foot (12 x 12 meter) emblem of a panda painted on either side of the cockpit.

With Tai Shan on board the Panda Express — which normally transports 2,000 pounds (around 1,000 kilograms) of freight — will be one of his handlers from the National Zoo Washington , a veterinarian, and a three-year-old female panda Mei Lan and her entourage from Zoo Atlanta who will be picked up in Atlanta.

Tai Shan and his panda travel partner  Mei Lan, will not have the run of the plane but will travel in comfort, without being anesthetized, in crates crafted out of tubular steel.

FedEx has years of experience transporting all sorts of wild animals, from lions to tigers to Tai Shan’s parents, which the global air freight company flew to the United States in 2000, long before Tai Shan was a twinkle in panda conservationists’ eyes. In 1974, FedEx carried a 13-foot tiger shark  used in filming the movie Jaws, whilst competitor UPS famously transported Free Willy star Keiko the whale onboard a Hercules C-130 transport aircraft in 1996.

After his 14-and-a-half-hour flight to Chengdu, Tai Shan will travel 2.5 hours by road to Wolong’s Beifengxia nature reserve in Sichuan province, where after spending 30-days in quarantine he will join the breeding program.

Giant panda Tai Shan plays on snow-blanketd ground during a farewell party at the National Zoo in Washington D.C., the United States, Jan. 30, 2010

Tai Shan’s departure for China has been on the cards since the day he was born in 2005, and in fact, under an agreement between the National Zoo and China, he was supposed to have been sent to the fatherland when he turned two.

The Chinese granted Washington an extension, partly because Tai Shan would have been too young, at age two, to enter the panda breeding program in China, but also because of the “huge emotional attachment the American public has for him,” said Don Moore, associate director of animal care at the National Zoo.

But now at age four-and-a-half, the young panda is showing signs that he would welcome being part of a breeding program, not to mention the chance to nibble at more than the four varieties of bamboo that are available to him at his home in Washington.

But that won’t make waving goodbye to him any easier for visitors and staff of the National Zoo.

“It’s like sending your kindergartner off to kindergarten, but this kindergartner isn’t coming back. He’s going to stay in China,” said Moore.

“I’m going to miss him terribly but I always knew this day was coming and we were lucky to have him an extra two-and-a-half years,” said Meese, who has spent almost every day with Tai Shan since his birth in the early hours of July 9, 2005.

“But I’m looking at the more important, big picture and that is that Tai Shan is going to be part of the breeding program, which will help to make sure future generations can enjoy giant pandas,” she said.

Panda Cub Mei Lan from Zoo Atalanta. Mei Lan,” loosely translated, means “Atlanta Beauty.” When she was born, Mei Lan weighed 4 shaky little ounces. She now weighs about 200 pounds.

China to find “language teacher” for panda from U.S.

A panda breeding center in southwest China is looking for a “Chinese language teacher” and a “boyfriend” to welcome a female panda from Zoo Atlanta later this week.

Three-year-old Mei Lan will be flown to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan Friday from Washington, together with Tai Shan, a 4-year-old male panda from National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

“Mei Lan has been living in the United States since she was born, and she must be unfamiliar with Chinese, especially the Sichuan dialect,” said Huang Xiangming, director of the base’s animal management department.

“So we will find a Chinese language teacher for her, in addition to an exclusive keeper, and help her adapt to her new life faster,” he said.

Meanwhile, the base is asking the public to choose a “boyfriend” for Mei Lan as she had reached mating age, he said.

“We have created web pages on popular Internet portals to post images and introduce Mei Lan and a number of male pandas. We are inviting panda fans to vote for the best ‘boyfriend’ for Mei Lan according to their physical appearance, character, living habits and experts’ suggestions on the match,” he said.

Mei Lan would have to change her diet habits gradually.

“We have asked the American zookeepers to bring Mei Lan’s favorite biscuits, but we will gradually use Chinese ‘wotou’ (steamed bread of corn, sorghum and others) and fresh bamboo to replace biscuits,” Huang said.

Mei Lan would be quarantined for a certain period just like all other pandas arriving from overseas, he said.

Mei Lan has been living at Zoo Atlanta since she was born in September 2006. Her parents Lun Lun and Yang Yang arrived in Atlanta in November 1999.

Tai Shan, who was born in July 2005 and raised at the National Zoo of Washington D.C., will later go to the Ya’an Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base of Wolong National Nature Reserve, another panda breeding center in Sichuan.

Tai Shan was supposed to come to China at the age of two. The Chinese government agreed to postpone its return twice in 2007 and 2009 at the request of the National Zoo.

Tai Shan’s father Tian Tian, 13, and mother Mei Xiang, 12, are due to return to China in December next year.

According to the agreements reached by Chinese and American authorities, giant pandas are only loaned to the United States for scientific studies — such as Mei Lan and Tai Shan’s parents, and all their cubs must also be sent back to China.

Thirteen Chinese giant pandas are in four zoos in the United States.

Giant pandas, known for being sexually inactive, are among the world’s most endangered animals.

About 1,600 giant pandas live in China’s wild, mostly in Sichuan and the northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. Another 290 are in captive-breeding programs worldwide, mainly in China.

Ten baby pandas in Shanghai for Expo

Ten giant panda cubs will be on display at the Shanghai World Expo next year at the city’s zoos, giving tens of millions of Chinese and foreign visitors a glimpse at the highly endangered species.

The cubs, four male and six female, will arrive in Shanghai in January with a chartered plane escorted by two breeders from their home in Wolong and spend six months at the Shanghai Zoo and six months at Wild Zoo of Shanghai. The pandas would not appear at the actual Expo site due to a lack of space.

All 10 have been born since July 2008 in the Wolong breeding centres in southwestern Sichuan province, which was struck by a 8.0-magnitude earthquake in May 2008 that left nearly 87,000 people dead or missing.

Some of the cubs’ mothers were survivors of the quake in mountainous Sichuan, where China’s panda population is concentrated, said Li Desheng, an official from the China Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre.

The cubs will have their favorite food – bamboo – brought from Shanghai and neighbouring provinces during their stay in the city.

The Expo, due to begin May 1 and run for six months, is expected to draw 70 million visitors.

The Shanghai Zoo, which already has three older giant pandas, has refurbished its panda house to accommodate the new arrivals, part of a bumper crop of pandas born last year despite damage to the panda reserve and breeding center from the earthquake.

Pandas are threatened by loss of habitat, poaching and a low reproduction rate. Females in the wild normally have a cub once every two or three years. The fertility rate of captive giant pandas is even lower.

Only about 1,600 pandas live in the wild, mostly in China’s southwestern Sichuan province. An additional 120 pandas are in Chinese breeding facilities and zoos, and about 20 live in zoos outside China.

10只“世博”熊猫下月抵沪 将在申城两大动物园各展出半年

10只大熊猫将作客2010年上海世博会一年

昨日，在环球金融中心举行的“2010年大熊猫世博行”新闻发布会上，展示了10只世博熊猫的照片。这10只熊猫分别叫平平、安安、韵韵、佑佑、汉媛、壮妹、奥运、闽闽、阿灵、武阳，将于下月从四川乘包机来到上海。明年上半年，它们将在浦西的上海动物园展出；明年下半年，它们将搬家到浦东的上海野生动物园与市民见面。

均为震后出生 将在两家动物园各展半年

“平平”和“安安”：

在汶川大地震后产下的首对双胞胎，它们的妈妈在地震时躲在垮塌的山崖下，经过解救跋涉到了雅安，在去年7月6日产下这对双胞胎。

“平平”和“安安”性格互补，是完美组合。“平平”性格文静、喜欢爬树，“安安”性格活泼，经常趁饲养员不注意时从幼儿园跑出来。

“韵韵”：

小眼睛大鼻子，性格温顺开朗。它的妈妈英英是“英雄母亲”，先后产下了8胎13只熊猫，都成活了。

“佑佑”和“汉媛”：

也是一对双胞胎。“佑佑”因为脸两边的毛比较长，被戏称为“张飞”脸，是有名的“散打冠军”。“汉媛”则是一个非常爱美的乖乖女，非常喜欢照镜子，经常端着奶盆看半天，原来是在把奶盆当镜子用。

“壮妹”：

是虎头虎脑的“假小子”，吃东西特别快，看到旁边的小伙伴没吃完就抢，常被饲养员训斥。

“武阳”：

最喜欢玩皮球，一次为了把皮球从地洞里掏出来，头都被卡住了，最后还是饲养员花了近20分钟时间才把它“解救”出来。

“奥运”：

出生在奥运期间的幸运宝宝，是“白面书生”，性格有点孤僻，喜欢自娱自乐。

“闽闽”：

是10只熊猫体重中最轻的一只，生下来含奶嘴都含不住，饲养员用奶管插到它的胃里，一天一天度过危险期才逐步长大的。所以她喜欢撒娇，经常抱着饲养员的腿不放。

“阿灵”：

很爱在树上睡觉，有时候到了吃饭的时候也不愿下来，一定要饲养员把饭盆放在树下它才下来吃。

【熊猫档案】

平平

性别：雌性 出生日期：2008年7月6日 初生体重为：170g 目前体重：37kg 性格：斯文腼腆，喜欢爬树 特征：尖嘴、圆脸 母亲：蝈蝈
解说：平平比较文静的，喜欢爬树，是树上的黑白精灵。

壮妹

性别：雌性 出生日期：2008年7月26日 出生体重：104.5g 目前体重：41.6kg 性格：性情急躁 特征：虎头虎脑的假小子 母亲：白雪
解说：壮妹具有超强的攀爬能力，曾经3次跑到野外，后来自己回来了。壮妹吃东西特别快，看到旁边的小伙伴没吃完就抢。

安安

性别：雄性 出生日期：2008年7月6日 出生体重：145.5g 目前体重：38kg 性格：好动、调皮 特征：圆脸、花嘴巴 母亲：蝈蝈

解说：与平平是双胞胎，性格正相反，好动，喜欢打闹，有时会趁饲养员不注意偷偷跑出过“幼儿园”。

武阳

性别：雄性 出生日期：2008年8月6日 出生体重：206.7g 目前体重：40kg 性格：温顺、乖巧 特征：圆脸、小眼睛 母亲：草草

解说：身材又圆又胖，长着一对咪咪眼。武阳最喜欢玩皮球，经常对着皮球满院子跑。

韵韵

性别：雌性 出生日期：2008年7月13日 出生体重：173.5g 目前体重：43kg 性格:温顺、开朗 特征：小眼睛、鼻子短而大 母亲：英英
解说：韵韵的妈妈英英今年19岁了，先后产下了8胎13只大熊猫，都成活了，被亲切地称为“英雄母亲”。

奥运

性别：雄性 出生日期：2008年8月8日 出生体重：154.2g 目前体重：36kg 性格：乖巧懂事 特征：个小、毛白 母亲：妃妃

解说：出生于北京奥运会开幕式当天，称它是为奥运而生的。奥运长的比较秀气，它喜欢自娱自乐，不爱跟别的熊猫玩。

佑佑

性别：雄性 出生日期：2008年7月21日 出生体重：129g 目前体重：36.6g 性格：活泼好动 特征：尖嘴、圆脸、大眼睛 母亲：龙欣
解说：佑佑长着一张“张飞脸”，有比较强的占有欲，喜欢打闹。平时熊猫散打过程中，它是散打冠军。

闽闽

性别：雌性 出生日期：2008年9月3日 出生体重：102.8g 目前体重：35kg 性格：思维敏捷、喜欢撒娇 特征：尖嘴、脸比较圆
母亲：竹韵
解说：闽闽生下来含奶嘴都含不住，让工作人员操了不少心。从小跟人接触多，养成了喜欢抱饲养员腿撒娇的习惯。

汉媛

性别：雌性 出生日期：2008年7月21日 出生体重：111.4g 目前体重：40kg 性格：斯文、随意而安 特征：圆脸、大鼻子 母亲：龙欣
解说：它是乖乖女，我们也叫它非常爱美丽的熊猫，它喜欢照镜子，经常在水池边玩耍的时候看着自己的倒影就陶醉了。

阿灵

性别：雌性 出生日期：2008年9月14日 出生体重：191.2g 目前体重：34kg 性格：成熟稳重、爱思考 特征：上嘴唇长于下嘴唇
母亲：晔晔
解说：喜欢呆在树睡觉，很多人以为熊猫睡觉在树下，其实熊猫在树上睡觉是很常见的，因为这是自我保护的一种行为。

聚焦

暂不考虑移师世博展区

上海市林业局副局长蔡友铭透露，关于外界关心的10只大熊猫运输方案，届时将采用包机的形式从双流机场运到上海的虹桥机场，但具体运输的时间要根据当时的气候条件，最后确定。

“运输过程当中为了确保大熊猫宝宝的安全，四川卧龙方面派出两名专业技术人员随机进行陪护。由于10只熊猫宝宝还比较幼小，在这个过程中备足了随身需要的饲料，包括奶粉等。”蔡友铭表示，在整个过程当中有保育人员进行看护，到了上海虹桥机场之后，则会在第一时间进入上海动物园。由于进入动物园之后还需按照动物隔离观察的要求，也为了使大熊猫能够适应新的环境，会有一段时间的观察，具体展出时间还不能敲定。

据了解，整个大熊猫上海世博行的活动，上半年在上海动物园，下半年在野生动物园，没有额外的门票，来园就可以看到大熊猫。

对于大家关心的大熊猫是否可以放到世博场馆内的问题，有关负责人表示，由于世博园区展区范围相对狭小，目前不考虑移师世博展区。