Results tagged “huamei”

Gothamist's head is about to explode, because the San Diego Zoo has just confirmed that Bai Yun has given birth! Bai Yun has been the most productive panda mom in America, as she's given birth to Hua Mei (who later had twins after watching panda porn) and Mei Sheng (although zookeepers weren't sure which male was the father). Gothamist will now have to visit San Diego Zoo again, now that the new Panda Research Station can hold up to six pandas. Six! Gothamist must start our letter...no, email campaign to bring pandas to NYC now!

Spring may be 11 days away, but for the various panda zookeepers in the United States, it's soon becoming time for the pandas to mate. The pandas at DC's National Zoo and the (Atlanta's) Atlanta Zoo are getting ready to get down. If the animals do not successfully mate, the zoos may try artificial insemination to get that increase-the-visitors-by- the-tenfold baby panda. Gothamist has extreme panda envy, and we'd probably back any political candidate who would endeavor to bring pandas to New York.

Gothamist on Hua Mei's sex education.

Similar sex education courses given to other pandas in the center had resulted in natural matings. Intriguing! Pandas' mating instincts need to be drawn out with sex tapes! It's so bizarre and brings up questions that Gothamist had never thought of before, like "Do pandas watch other pandas mate?" and "How is that possible when they are so solitary?" Or "Is that why they are endangered - they don't know how to have sex?" If only Hua Mei could use a computer - then she could see our detailed coverage of D.C. pandas mating.

Four year old American-born panda Hua Mei returned to China on Valentine's Day and her new zookeepers are looking to set her up with a male panda. Wolong Nature Reserve zookeeper said, "We have chosen three male pandas. We hope one or two could become her boyfriend later." What, humans are choosing Hua Mei's mate? Not Pimp-Pimp?

Ed: It's been too long since a panda-related post, so this one's for you, TMFTML.

In another move of making sure America is everywhere, the San Diego Zoo's panda was named Mei Sheng, which means "Born in the United States." You may or may not remember that the last baby panda, Hua Mei's name means "China U.S.A." Mei Sheng's name also can mean "beautiful life;" he could also be called "Made in the U.S.A." – with the help in the very best artificial panda insemination technology involved. In fact, it was only recently discovered which panda was his father, thanks to DNA testing. The intrigue!

Bai Yun has yet to give birth to the second panda cub, but it seems like she's taking good care of the first baby cub that appeared. Zookeepers do not believe the second panda cub will be born.

Gothamist has the best readers ever: We received multiple emails asking why we hadn't posted about the exciting news coming from San Diego. Yes, the news that Bai Yun the panda is pregnant...with twins! And in a plot twist worthy of a soap opera, zoo keepers aren't sure who the father is - they inseminated her on two occasions with the sperm of two different pandas, Shi Shi, who is now in China, and Gao Gao, the panda male currently in San Diego. Truthfully, Gothamist was wary of posting about it is because panda pregnancies are very delicate, especially pregnancy with twins, and we didn't want to get too excited about it. From our panda knowledge, one twin tends to be ignored as the panda mother can only pay attention to one. But the San Diego Zoo is a top notch facility, and we're sure that as we speak, they are trying to force Bai Yun into bed rest with tons of bamboo and carrots. See for yourself with the San Diego Zoo Panda Cam.

SARS affects yet another trip - the L.A. Times reports that San Diego native Hua Mei's trip to China has been delayed. Hua Mei is a giant panda, who was born in 1999 to Bai Yun, and has lived in San Diego since. As most pandas in zoos are on loan from the Chinese government, part of the agreement between the San Diego Zoo and China is that any pandas born in the U.S. must be sent to China after a certain number of years. With SARS concerns, Hua Mei's trip back may be delayed for months. Here's hoping that other San Diego Natives and zoo visitors will take advantage of that and say hi to her.