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January 2007
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Cocktail party celebrates Mei Lan
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
She’s not exactly old enough to drink and, technically, most of the soiree was held after her bedtime. Still, that didn’t prevent about 250 well-wishers from attending “Shout for Joy!”, a cocktail party honoring Zoo Atlanta’s new celebrity, baby panda Mei Lan, Thursday night.
Chinese lanterns and a generous supply of portable heaters helped to guide chilled attendees to the panda habitat and the large heated tent erected for the occasion. Mei Lan toddled out for about 30 minutes to mug for local TV news cameras and cellphone cameras before hitting the hay.
The evening served as a thank you for the many corporate folks and civic leaders who originally helped to bring the pandas to Atlanta. Honorary chairs included three men who were all instrumental in the international exchange program: former President Jimmy Carter, former U.N. ambassador and Atlanta mayor Andrew Young and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
During his brief remarks, Carter (who attended with his seven-year-old grandson Hugo) informed the crowd that negotiations centering on bringing two giant pandas to Atlanta date back more than 20 years.
Smiling, Carter cracked: “There was an extraordinary amount of money involved. … But we have realized the ultimate dream.” In exchange for his many efforts, Carter and Hugo had a few private moments to gaze at Mei Lan through the glass.
“Hugo was delighted,” Carter said. “He’s even missing Sponge Bob Square Pants to come out and see Mei Lan tonight.”
Zoo Atlanta president Dennis Kelly then surprised the crowd by unfurling two banners that will be hung around the city to celebrate Mei Lan’s arrival in a partnership with Brand Atlanta. The 200 banners — one depicting a very recent photo of the baby and another with Mei Lan and mom Lun Lun — are going up throughout the city this week.
Standing in the back of the tent, Zoo spokeswoman Susan Elliott took it all in.
“Mei Lan has really permeated the pop culture of this city,” she reflected of the past few months. “It’s amazing.”
Elliott said that about 50,000 online visitors are logging onto zooatlanta.org daily to sneak a peek at the baby via the “panda cam.”
On the recent MLK Day weekend, zoo attendance jumped by 211-percent over the warm three-day period.
In the coming weeks, the zoo will begin offering “online time-ticketing” as well. Taking a tip from the High Museum and the Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta will offer guests an opportunity to “make an appointment to see Mei Lan,” said Elliott.
Alas, the start of the program won’t coincide with warmer temperatures but will rely instead of Mei Lan’s growth.
“Once she feels more comfortable being outside for longer periods of time, we’ll begin to offer the online time-ticketing as an option,” Elliott said.
“It could be as early as the next few weeks. We’ll just have to see.”
Mei Lan’s new nickname: Wiggles
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
She’s not a track star, nor is it likely that she’ll win awards for grace in motion.
But if the people at Zoo Atlanta start handing out medals for sheer motion, Mei Lan the baby giant panda might be a contender for the gold.
Mei Lan underwent her weekly checkup Thursday, rolling around, batting at just about everything that moved and sticking her furry nose into any cranny she could sniff out. Her handlers tried to get the usual measurements that indicate how well the cub is doing.
It wasn’t easy getting her vital statistics, said Dr. Maria Crane, the zoo’s chief veterinarian, but it was sort of fun: Who can get mad at a panda whose nose is stuck in a traffic cone? Yes, a traffic cone: It’s one of the “enrichment toys” the zoo has given the panda to keep her interested in her surroundings.
“She’s showing really good growth and development,” said Crane, who has been checking on Mei Lan since the cub’s birth to Lun Lun Sept. 6. “She continues to do well.”
How well? Mei Lan weighed 18.2 pounds — almost a pound more than her last checkup. From wiggly nose to wriggly tail, she measured 34 inches. She’s walking better every day, too, and frequently ventures to the panda pen’s outside viewing area.
Mei Lan also recently reached another milestone, the bathroom variety. The cub is learning to urinate and defecate on her own. In the past, Lun Lun had to help the kid along, licking the cub’s private parts to get Mei Lan to evacuate.
(Parents, think of that the next time you make a face at junior’s diaper.)
In science-talk, Mei Lan is meeting all developmental platforms.
Crane translated: She’s doing great.”
Panda cub a crowd pleaser
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some people were camped out in folding chairs at the entrance to Zoo Atlanta at 7:30 Saturday morning, waiting for a chance to see panda cub Mei Lan. By 9 a.m., when annual-pass members were allowed in, there were about 100 people waiting to view Mei Lan and her mother, Lun Lun, at the doors to the habitat.
For the first hour, zoo staffers rotated the crowds in three-minute shifts. They urged crowds to let children sneak in and sit in the front of the glass, in order to better see Mei Lan wobble around the climate-controlled “dayroom.” Staffers also announced repeatedly — sometimes to no avail — that flash photography was not allowed, because the cub’s eyes are still sensitive.
Panda keeper Jay Pratte wanted to be extra vigilant about this. “Lun doesn’t care” about the flash, he said, “but the cub gets stressed. When she does, she’ll start squealing, telling her mom she’s not happy, and Lun will pick her up and take her in.”
Onlookers appeared delighted to finally see the 4-month-old cub, on the second day of its public viewing.
“It was good, because she could walk,” said Presley Stevens, 5, of Powder Springs, who came with her family.
“She’s been following the panda in the newspaper,” Don Stevens, Presley’s dad, said about his daughter. “The smile never left her face.”
Caroline Ashburn, 9, of Forsyth, said, “She’s adorable. She was so cute when she snuggled up with her mother.”
Micki Ferrante, 64, of Stone Mountain, declared Mei Lan “Incredible.” A fan of pandas since visiting the San Diego Zoo years ago, Ferrante added, “I feel like it’s one of my grandchildren.”
“The baby, it looks cool, but I thought it would be bigger,” said Gerald Donaldson, 9, of McDonough. “I wanted to get a panda [for my own], but my mom said no.”
Seeing Mei Lan: What you need to know
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tips and information if you’re going to Zoo Atlanta to see the baby panda:
What: For the best chance to see Mei Lan, be at Zoo Atlanta early in the morning.
Hours: 9 a.m. for yearly members; 9:30 a.m. for the general public. Zoo closes at 5:30 p.m.
Admission: Ranges from $12.99 to $17.99. Free for children 2 and younger.
For more information: 404-624-9453. The zoo is located at 800 Cherokee Ave. Its Web site is zooatlanta.org
ALSO: • Photos of Mei Lan’s public debut.
Mei Lan meets her adoring public
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The first Atlantan to see Mei Lan, America’s newest giant panda cub, in person Friday morning during its inaugural public viewing at Zoo Atlanta had a relevant question.
“Why isn’t the mommy going over to the baby?,” 4-year-old Megan Dobso of Fayetteville asked her mother.
The answer was obvious to more than a dozen members of the media who were taping, photographing and observing the cub’s every wobble: While Mei Lan was tentatively exploring her new surroundings, Lun Lun, her 9-year-old mother, was busy eating.
Leaning against a tree limb in the pandas’ temperature-controlled “dayroom” habitat, Lun Lun was so preoccupied with munching bamboo that when her 4-mnth-old cub came to climb on her, she fended off her 16-pound baby with a raised leg or arm, as if to say, “Not now, kid, I’m starving.”
Mei Lan, undaunted, tried repeatedly to get some attention. But Lun Lun wasn’t buying it. So, after 45 minutes of touring the habitat — balancing on a branch and toppling off, walking in what looked like slow-motion, trying in vain to scale an opening back into her den — the baby cub did what tuckered-out youngsters tend to do.
She lay down and fell asleep.
“It’s amazing, she’s so cute,” said Kim Dobso, Megan’s mom. “I get tears in my eyes she’s so cute. We can’t get enough of her.”
The zoo thinks a lot more folks feel the same way, although there was no crowd early Friday. Zoo officials suggest those wanting to see the panda cub come early in the morning to the zoo in the coming days.
IF YOU GO
What: For the best chance to see Mei Lan, be at Zoo Atlanta early in the morning.
Hours: 9 a.m. for yearly members; 9:30 a.m. for the general public. Zoo closes at 5:30 p.m.
Admission: $17.99-$12.99. Free for children 2 and younger.
For Information: 404-624-9453. 800 Cherokee Ave. www.zooatlanta.org
SCENES FROM THE DAY
Photos of the cub’s debut.
Panda’s big debut
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It looks like the public debut for Mei Lan, Zoo Atlanta’s giant panda cub, will be this weekend.
The baby panda, which has been nurtured behind the scenes since her Sept. 6 birth, will be presented to the media in her habitat at the zoo Friday morning.
After that, she may stay on public view, if only on a limited basis.
Zoo spokeswoman Susan Elliott said anyone happening to visit the zoo Friday might see Mei Lan and her mother, Lun Lun, in the giant panda habitat. But there are no guarantees. It’s up to the pandas whether they will be outside, or back in their den.
“When the media preview happens, she may just decide to stay out,” Elliott said. “t’s up to her now. Both Mei Lan and Lun Lun will have access to be out after that.”
The zoo has been conducting trials with the wobbly-walking cub in the panda habitat in recent days, and she has stayed out anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes. “It’s been increasing every day,” Elliott said. Elliott said Saturday offers a better chance than Friday for the public to see the cub.
More details will be announced at Friday morning’s press conference Come back to ajc.com after 8 a.m. for more information.
Zoo Atlanta opens to zoo members at 9 a.m. Friday and to the general public at 9:30 a.m.
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