Zhin-Li is growing like a weed. He is nine weeks old this week, and about the size of a loaf of bread. His eyes are fully open and he totters around his nest box, but he is still nursing and has not tried solid food yet. He has also not yet ventured outside the nest box on his own, but his mother, Mei-Li, moves him between nest boxes regularly. He is getting so heavy that she has trouble picking him up and ends up dragging him! Zhin-Li is becoming more visible on the camera outside of the exhibit as he investigates the entrance to the nest box more and more. And he is getting increasingly feisty! When keepers open the nest box to check on him or weigh him, he barks angrily and aggressively in a corner. Unfortunately for him, an aggressive red panda cub is about as scary as a stuffed animal, so he gets weighed anyways.
Photos courtesy of Saasha Caldera. Video courtesy of Binghamton Zoo.
Friday, August 23
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| Photo courtesy of Sentry Alarms webcam system at the Binghamton Zoo. |
So the beauty and challenge of working in a zoo is that things are constantly changing. I posted the above update about the red panda cub on Thursday, August 22, and on Friday, August 23, Zhin-Li tried his first solid food and left the nest box on his own. We are never positive about what the animals will do! Zhin-Li ate some bamboo leaves that a keeper put in the entrance to his nest box, and visitors saw him climb out of the box and follow his mom around the den! He has since been seen out of the nest box multiple times, but has not yet ventured outside into the exhibit.
Video courtesy of Keeper Ashley Landry of the Binghamton Zoo.
When does the cub try solid food? And what will you feed him?
ReplyDeleteRed panda cubs begin eating solid food around 90 days old and are fully weaned by six to eight months old. At the Binghamton Zoo, Zhin-Li will begin eating solid food by trying some of his mother's diet: bamboo, apples, grapes, and Mazuri leaf-eater biscuits, which are specifically made for zoo animals. When the keepers notice that Zhin-Li is eating solid foods on his own, we will start offering him a smaller version of the same diet given to Mei-Li.
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