Xi Lan gets his shot at panda publicity

Since she was born on a concrete floor at Zoo Atlanta and scooped into her mother’s arms, Mei Lan has dwelled in the kind of fame only a giant panda cub can have —- a unique media circus of 24-hour Web cam feeds and scientific documentation.

Unique, at least, until her baby brother was born almost exactly two years later, on Aug. 30.

Xi Lan wobbled into public view last week, having passed all the milestones his sister hit in her first months. He’ll be at the center of an ad campaign already showing up on MARTA buses and trains. Merchandise lettered with his name will be on gift shop shelves next week, next to the Mei Lan T-shirts and key chains.

Still, even zoo officials say they don’t expect a publicity frenzy or attendance explosion like that following his sibling’s birth.

To be sure, the second cub was a boon for the endangered panda population and research on it, and the zoo drew more than seven times the number of visitors on Xi Lan’s first day on display —- during a holiday week —- than on his big sister’s first outing.

But zoo officials don’t expect Xi Lan’s crowds to equal what Mei Lan drew long term.

In 2007, the year following Mei Lan’s birth, Zoo Atlanta drew 830,000 visitors.

Marcus Margerum, the zoo’s vice president of marketing and sales, said the institution expects 770,000 visits in 2009 —- less than in 2007, but 30,000 more than last year’s attendance.

“They’re still very important to driving traffic,” Margerum said.

And then there’s the PandaCam, the popular online feature that offered a close-up view of Atlanta’s panda family. Zoo Atlanta turned it off Dec. 31 in a cost-cutting move, but Margerum said officials are trying to find a way to bring it back, and will know within two weeks whether it’s possible.

Susan Hedley was watching the night of Aug. 30 when mother Lun Lun stepped away to reveal a newborn wriggling on the concrete floor.

Fans were disappointed when the zoo switched off the camera, Hedley said, and she expects some to react as she did: by visiting the cub in person. Hedley, 36, drove 2 1/2 hours from her home in Birmingham on Saturday to see Xi Lan on display.

The cub toddled out of sight at first, but settled in for a nap in a hammock after his mother brought him out again. When he picked up his head, the crowd on the other side of the glass gasped; when Lun Lun picked him up, an ecstatic “awwww” passed through the room.

“I just like seeing the pandas,” Hedley chuckled. “I don’t think it ever gets old, especially cubs.”

Mei Lan, meanwhile, was sprawled on a wooden play structure outside, where small crowds stopped to take photos of the no-longer-tiny cub.

Forget rivalry: Mei Lan may not even know she has a kid brother. Pandas are solitary creatures that keep each other’s company only when mating, or when a mom is nursing her cub.

“Giant panda siblings wouldn’t spend time together in the wild,” said Megan Wilson, Zoo Atlanta’s assistant curator of carnivores. “That’s difficult for us, as humans, to understand.”

If crowds are less excited about the second cub, Wilson said, the staff can’t tell.

They’re more confident this time around, and save for a short time Xi Lan spent in an incubator, there haven’t been any surprises. He sleeps, nurses and “putters around,” Wilson said. They’re watching for the next set of milestones —- running, climbing, playing and eating bamboo.

They’re watching for signs of his personality, too.

Mei Lan shows a strong streak of goofball, probably inherited from her notoriously silly father, Yang Yang.

If little Xi Lan has revealed anything yet, it’s a flair for stardom —- even without the PandaCam, he spends more time on display, snoozing in front of whoever wants to watch.

SIBLING STATS

Lun Lun and Yang Yang’s cubs, Mei Lan and Xi Lan, both were born about the same time of year, and have hit the same milestones along the expected timeline. Zoo keepers even noticed that both pandas have a black patch on their otherwise white tails. Here’s a breakdown of some of the panda siblings’ key dates and stats.

Mei Lan

> Date of birth: Sept. 6, 2006

> Lun Lun’s hours of labor: 36

> Date on display: Jan. 12, 2007

> Number of zoo visitors on debut day: 399

> Date named: Dec. 15, 2006, 100 days after birth

Xi Lan

> Date of birth: Aug. 30, 2008

> Lun Lun’s hours of labor: 9

> Date on display: Dec. 29, 2008

> Number of zoo visitors on debut day: 3,000

> Date named: Dec. 8, 100 days after birth