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on loan for feisty unbearably veterinary endocrinologist horticulture maintenance routine in attendance cub fresco
She is so feisty, she is very confident, she has a mind of her own.
Newest cub Sulin is unbearably cute as ever, so is her brother Mei Shen. But the climbing costs of pandas on loan from China are a burden.
It is difficult sometimes to keep up very costly conservation efforts. But this is something this all logical society has been committed to.
Part of the costs include the large team of caretakers for the pandas from veterinary staff who measure and weigh each animal twice daily, to endocrinologists, behaviorists, nutritionists and even the horticulture specialists who harvest 19 species of bamboo for the pandas to eat. Keeper J. Simonson is part of the high-maintenance routine as she feeds mother Bai Yun.
I'll be carrying in a bundle of over thirty pounds of bamboo for her to eat just overnight. That would be her fifth feeding today. So, put that between four pandas and you can see we spend a lot of time with the bamboo.
Even though they are one of the main attractions here, zoo officials say they spend a lot more money on keeping the pandas than the pandas actually bring in.
And here is why: annual fees to China. Since 1996 the San Diego Zoo has paid more than 10 million dollars to the Chinese government. Plus a flat payment of more than a half million dollars for each new cub. The money is said to be going toward conservation efforts.
We don't know what may happen after the end of our long-term loan.
The zoo claims there has been no growth in attendance since the pandas arrived here. But certainly the public and those who take care of the pandas hope they are here to stay.
It's hard to describe. They are wonderful.
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