Home > Panda Watch > Archives > 2006 > November > 09 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USPanda 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.”
Comments
By kim
November 9, 2006 11:14 AM | Link to this
I have been watching Loon Loon and her baby since the first day that she was born.Watching Loon Loon attend to her baby ,lets you know that God is really Wonderful,Loon Loon is such a wonderful Mommy,I can only wonder how does she possibly know what to do with a baby,being a first time mother. I love watching her and her beautiful baby.
By Seven
November 9, 2006 11:16 AM | Link to this
Oh, my, gained a pound? And was that a “snerk” I heard? :)))
By Ellen
November 9, 2006 12:27 PM | Link to this
Is not instint amazing? Such an adorable Panda cub but then all babies are! She is a good mommy. Has the baby been named yet? I did not see it mentioned.I think it should be called Evie.
By cubsfan723
November 9, 2006 12:30 PM | Link to this
It was a super snerk!
By James Saunders
November 9, 2006 12:56 PM | Link to this
I just love you guys!!!! You all are taking such good care of the baby panda. It is really great to read some good and uplifting stories about people that do things that really matter. Thanks.
By Wondering
November 9, 2006 01:32 PM | Link to this
I’m wondering how Loon Loon attending to her baby shows how “God is wonderful”. It’s nature. Beautiful, yes, interesting, yes…but shows how “god is wonderful”???
By MustLovePandas
November 9, 2006 01:38 PM | Link to this
Wondering, please. This isn’t the appropriate place for this conversation.
Beautiful video of Lun Lun and Cubcake!! Yes, what a super snerk!! :)
By djx9@cdc.gov
November 9, 2006 01:53 PM | Link to this
Oh get over being so critical of others’ opinions. This is one of the only happy news stories that we can look forward to, why spoil it?
By TheOne
November 9, 2006 02:04 PM | Link to this
Yes, cute, cute, cute!!!
The naming process should begin soon!!
By Sooz
November 9, 2006 02:49 PM | Link to this
I have become a panda fanatic! I access the panda-cam first thing in the morning and leave on my desktop all day long and go back several times a day to see what Lun Lun and the baby are doing. Lun Lun is such a good mommy and the baby gets cuter everyday. Thanks for sharing this wondrous event with us!
By Sonya
November 9, 2006 04:03 PM | Link to this
I love the adorable panda baby and the way she’s being cared for by the doctors and her mommmy. It truly warms my heart and makes me appreciate our Grand Creator for instilling so many wonderful manifestations of his qualities and personality in his creations. This is what warms my heart!
By GMC
November 9, 2006 04:03 PM | Link to this
Now that lunge was much more believable than the alleged, still-no-video-of-it lunge of the October 26 exam. She has some serious strength to show off now.
By LIberal Democrat
November 9, 2006 04:08 PM | Link to this
Remember … if anything bad happens to that little panda cub, it will be BUSH’S FAULT!
By dana
November 10, 2006 07:52 AM | Link to this
I was watching Lun Lun drag her baby girl from one box to another early yesterday morning (after the checkup) and I could just hear the baby say to her, “make up your mind mama”. The bedding floor where the baby sleep looks cold. Does anyone know if the flooring is heated? I hope so. I hate to see the baby catch a cold.
By LiasMom
November 10, 2006 09:22 AM | Link to this
I was glad to hear the audio of the cub yesterday - what a noise!
I love to watch the cam a few times a day, and really like it when baby and momma are sleeping next to each other in basically the same positions - big and small versions of the same thing.
I think they are fine sleeping on the floor, especially since they sleep in the snow in the mountains in China, don’t they? I’m sure that if it wasn’t good for the cub, they wouldn’t have her sleeping there.
I know the naming will happen in just over a month, and the article in the paper today stated that the name would be chosen from both Chinese and U.S. submissions. Is there a place where you can submit a name? I know the zoo has had naming contests in the past.
By michelle
November 11, 2006 07:51 AM | Link to this
I also love watching Loon Loon and her baby, at work I also keep it on my desktop and whenever we feel a little stressed in the office we pull her up their are alot of oohs and aaahs, she is a great mother, we feel like “cubcake” is ours too. Thanks so much for letting us see both of them. Did anyone else notice the other day when the baby was trying to get out in came mommy to rescue her from going over the side? she’s great.
By MFW
November 14, 2006 04:47 PM | Link to this
I too have become addicted , have been watching since she was a week old and it’s a joy to see her developing. Can hardly wait ‘til she crewls over the edge. I wish the floor were not so slick. she trys so had to get somewhere but can’t get any traction. i guess that will happen when she is ready. Thanks so much for all the facinating moments I have had.