Giant Panda Trip - 22nd November 2009
Sunday, 22 November 2009 10:03
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Hi again,
What a great few days I have had! Yesterday I was able to do my first training with Wang Wang and Funi. It was really good...though Wang Wang seemed to be wondering why I was trying to train him!
There was a really big celebration here as well, in order to welcome a 2 1/2 year old male panda called Fulong. He arrived from Zoo Vienna in Austria, where he was born as part of the captive breeding programme.
I was able to have lunch with them and talk about their amazing adventures. His keeper, who will be staying with him for 2 and 1/2 weeks, was sad to leave him but also very proud to bring him over and hopes that in the future Fulong will breed. It will be a couple of years until Wang Wang and Funi can breed but hopefully we will be able to have success as well.
Today I was able to do more training with Wang Wang and Funi. They are both so focused and good at it! I am now able to ask them to lie down and I lie down next to them. It feels so amazing being so close and them responding to me so well. We get them to lie down so we can hand inject them if we ever need to in the future. They really are captivating animals to work with.
Funi has really started responding to me as well. She instantly recognises my voice....I think because it is so different to the Chinese that she is use too....the only westerner to feed her daily! It is nice, she is a real cutie.
Today we had a lovely time. Lao Bo was able to take half the day off and we went to an old village that has been done up. It was still very traditional, with lots of the locals wanting photos with us! We did a bit of shopping.....lots of scarfs and bracelets! We had lunch and sat by the canal, I guess it would have been about 15 degrees and sunny. We sat sipping green tea, and eating non-shelled sunflower seeds and sundried sweet potato (tasted sort of like dried paw paw).
Tomorrow is my first and last day off before a very busy panda week begins! It is going to be a big one. The centre will most likely be putting on a massive farewell ceremony for Wang Wang and Funi as well and lots of meetings and dinners. So tomorrow we are going to go to the city of Ya'an, do some touristy things and have a good look around. I am looking forward to it.
Until next time!
Simone
written by Amie, November 29, 2009
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written by Jackie, November 24, 2009
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