Goodbye Vienna Zoo
Friday, 04 February 2011 09:03
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Well my week has finished at Tiergarten Schönbrunn (Vienna Zoo). I had such a wonderful time there and was made so welcome by the wonderful staff on the Panda (and Koala!) rounds. I feel that I have made excellent contacts for the future in regards to Giant Pandas as well as some new friends.
While it snowed on the first two days of work the rest of the time was just very cold!! Sometimes the sun would pop out to say hello and try to melt some of the ice that had formed on the ground but mostly it was a must to have beanie, gloves and a very thick jacket!!! Of course the pandas didn't seem to mind, I would watch them eating the freshly laid out bamboo in the snow. They did show a favour to being inside on the really cold days (-2 degrees) just like how Wang Wang and Fu Ni tend to favour the inside when it is very hot for us!
In the days that I was there I was able to see first hand how quickly a panda cub grows and develops. Fu Hu is much more advanced then Fu Long was at the same age (Vienna's first born cub). In fact he is 2kg heavier at the same age!...just shy of 10kgs.
On the Monday when I started he was only just going outside to venture at night time. We would watch this overnight footage during the day to record what he had been up to. The keepers use the same camera system th
at we use in Adelaide, where we are able to observe what Wang Wang and Fu Ni have been up too.
Fu Hu was sleeping most if not all the day in his cubing den on the first day I started, he would only really come out to say hello to the keepers while we where cleaning, then back to bed for the day. By mid week he was seen climbing some low structures during the night and occasionally popping out of his den during the day for short periods of time. By Friday he spent some time on a low platform during the day having a sleep and by Mon... just a week later he was climbing the highest platform during the day!
One other good lesson I learnt about this was not to panic too much if or when the cub falls!!! He fell of the highest climbing structure when he was trying to figure out how to get down! The most remarkable thing was to watch Yang Yang's (his mother) reaction. It was wonderful to see. She had been eating below him but as soon as he fell she went over to him and picked him up in her arms. She checked him over completely and then once she was sure he was ok, she picked him up in her mouth and dragged him back into the cubing den where she let him suckle and they went to sleep together. It was just beautiful to see their relationship and Fu Hu's development and I feel so lucky that I happened to be here to see such defining moments of his life.
So lets hope that Fu Ni will be as good of a mother as Yang Yang when her time comes! Exciting times for the future indeed!
Until next time!
Simone
Senior Panda Keeper, Zoos SA
You certainly are a 'lucky girl'....I still think you have the best job in the world! They are so gorgeous, I bet you wanted to bring Fu Hu home!!! By the way....what does his name mean? Lucky ???
Hope all is well with Fu Ni and Wang Wang...will make my pilgrimage again this year!
Cheers,
Michelle