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Thursday, November 9, 2006
Panda cub gets a shot
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John Spink/AJC
Zoo Atlanta's Giant Panda cub got its first vaccination Thursday from Chinese colleague Xie Yi (left), veterinary tech Brendan Aylesworth (center) and Dr. Maria Crane.
She wasn’t rewarded with a lollipop, but Zoo Atlanta’s Giant Panda cub was an ideal patient Thursday morning while receiving her first vaccination shot, for canine distemper.
Otherwise, she was a typically noisy and active baby, issuing several loud squawks and sudden lurches as she becomes more sensitive to sound and surroundings.
“Visually she’s a little more aware,” zoo vet Maria Crane said, shortly after the 8:15 a.m. checkup. “It looked like movement [in the room] was startling her a little bit. She’s also becoming more sensitive to sound. As I checked her ears, the ear canal opening was a little bit larger. She is a lot more active and she has gained a lot more strength in her front legs.”
The cub now weighs 7.2 pounds, a gain of one pound from last week, and measured 21 inches from nose to tip of tail.
The little panda also had its temperature taken, rectally, and the result was normal: 36.5 degrees Celsius.
The cub’s increased size and activity mean zoo staffers could not take their hands off the animal for its usual “hands free” photo during the exam.
“I really don’t like to not be able to keep them from rolling off the table and injuring themselves,” Crane said. “Touch sometimes makes the animals feel more secure, because she is used to her mother holding her. She seemed to calm down as long as I kept a hand on her back or head.”
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