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| Sun Bear on the way to Pandas |
By a cruel irony of fate I had to wait till the last day of the holiday to see the pandas. San Diego zoo is the only place west of the Missisipi to have Giant Pandas. When Edinburgh ‘got’ Giant Pandas I was going to go there for my 30th turns out God had other plans.
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| Snap shot across part of the zoo |
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| At first there was no-one at home in Bai Yun's cage |
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| Bai Yun enjoying some food |
I slept most of the 1hr 40 min trip to San Diego to conserve energy for this important day. We got to the zoo about 11am and thanks to Diana and Yongboms forethought had pre-purchased tickets so went straight in. San Diego is a big zoo with a lot of animals. Some of the cages/habitats seems generous, others small. It was a hot day so animals seemed to be either sleeping or pacing, perhaps in wait of food. We took a while to get to the Pandas and then had a 15 min wait to see them. “Bai Yun” (White Clound) is the female and is a bit of a super star. Her daughter Hua Mei has the distinction of being the first panda to survive being born in captivity in the US. Bai Yun has had no less than 6 healthy cubs. Hua Mei is back in China on her 10th cub! I can’t help but think that Bai Yun has some pretty powerful baby survival genes going for her.
When we first got there we had a good look at her keepers who were busy clearing up and putting out treats and bamboo. Next door is “Gao Gao” (High High) her mate. When we got there he was pacing around, apparently they do this when they are waiting for food. The path looped back around to Bai Yun who started investigating her fresh grub.
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| Gao Gao pacing |
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| Elephants |
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| Koalas |
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| Tree Kangaroo |
After this we went for a bit of a meander around the zoo and saw some Elephants and Koalas before I set off again for the Pandas. This time alone, the waiting time was about 20 mins this time. At this point Bai Yun was busy pacing in anticipation of some more dinner and Gao Gao was having a nap. In the same loop as the Giant Pandas were the Red Pandas - looking just as cute as ever and Takins. They all come from China.
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| Gao Gao napping |
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| Bai Yun waiting for dinner |
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| Red Panda chilling out |
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| Finding a comfy position |
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| Takin. It was holding this ridiculously uncomfy position. |
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| Later in the day the red pandas are still snoozing |
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| Three Llamas obviously posing for a photo*obviously not from china!* |
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| A rather beautiful camel |
Before returning to the Pandas for a third round I met my friends at the polar bear enclosure.
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| Brave Mallards |
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| local wildlife |
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| Panda enclosure for third time. Even busier. |
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| Bai Yun eating, look at the chubby rolls of fur on her back! |
During my third Panda visit both of them were busy eating bamboo. This time I had to queue for about half an hour. This isn't bad when I think that the first panda in the USA "Su Lin" drew a crowd of 53,000 people when first exhibited at the Brookfield Zoo. After the Pandas I went and tried tOneo spot the bears again. Most were in their caves but the grizzlys had come out to sun bathe. I finished off the day at the zoo by hiking around the gift shops, in every one I found something else I wanted. This included two cuddly pandas (one of which donated it's t-shirt to Jessie), some panda jewellery, a panda magnet, a panda sun hat, a panda photo frame, panda postcards, and a panda decoration for my Christmas tree. I also bought a really interesting book "The Lady and the Panda" which is a re-write of the original book of the name by Ruth Harkness. Ruth Harkness was the first person to bring a Panda out of China to 'the West'. I usually struggle to read factual things (explains a lot about my failings as a scholar) but this is really well written. Even if you are not interested in Pandas (shame on you) it is an interesting tale of an underdog winning, and reflects a little on our attitudes (hopefully now in the past) to both non-westerners and animals. Ruth Harkness was a lady ahead of her time in some respects but she seems to have enjoyed her time nonetheless.
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| Bai Yun chilling out |
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| Gao Gao in a nest of bamboo |
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| By this point Gao Gao was almost buried in bamboo |
Sorry the videos the wrong way around. Gao Gao munching...
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| Grizzlys finally outside |
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| Jessie sporting her new T-shirt |
After the zoo we went to the beach at San Diego and saw the fancy hotel there. We had Mexican for dinner then headed home. Full of memories of Pandas and other less important animals.
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| The beach at San Diego |
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| Wading birds |
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