Society

US-born panda Tai Shan groomed for greatness

By Zhao Yanrong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-14 08:26

YA'AN, Sichuan - Tai Shan, the United States-born giant panda, has been in his new Chinese home for just six months, but already his keepers want him to earn his keep - by starting a family.

But first, they have to ensure that Tai Shan is fit and healthy enough to mate.

To that end, Huang Shan, Tai Shan's feeder, cuts apples into small pieces and gives them to Tai Shan only when he stands up.

"It's a good exercise because it makes his hind legs stronger," Huang said. "Pandas need strong legs to be able to mate."

Related readings:  Fertile grandma panda gives birth again  Panda born in the US beefs up as it prepares for fatherhood  Female panda cub born in SW China  Panda gives birth to twins in SW China  US-born panda Taishan meets public in Sichuan

And Tai Shan's new home at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda in Ya'an, Sichuan province, in Southwest China, should also be conducive to a panda's family life.

Tang Chunxiang, the center's deputy director, said Tai Shan's home covers more than 2,000 square meters and is the largest in the center.

It is in the center's "embassy area" which houses only pandas from overseas, he said, including Fu Long, another male raised in Europe but brought back to China last year.

Once Tai Shan is fully mature, probably in about a year, the center will move a female panda into his home.

"If Tai Shan accepts her, he will indicate this by growling in a special way," Huang said.

If not, Tai Shan will have many others to choose from as the center has more than 90 pandas, most of them females.

Tang said a 24-hour camera has been set up in Tai Shan's front yard to record daily life.

"Most cameras cover a few panda homes at the same time, but this one is only for Tai Shan, to record every detail of his life," he said.

Plenty of trees and bamboo plants cover the yard, simulating the environment in the wild.

Tai Shan turned 5 early last month and about 20 of his fans from the US, the UK and Japan helped him celebrate his first birthday in China.

They brought a special birthday cake made out of carrots, apples and ice, which Tai Shan gleefully wolfed down.

When Tai Shan arrived in early February from the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington DC, he weighed only 87 kg - a weight considered too light for a four-and-a-half-year-old panda. And he used to have a big belly, which meant he lacked exercise, Huang said.

But Tai Shan has since gained more than 20 kg and now eats at least 50 kg of bamboo, 2 kg of carrots and 2 kg of panda cakes - made with corn, eggs and honey - a day.

Huang said that after Tai Shan arrived, the center not only fed him more food, but helped him get into shape.

"We used to spread the food around so Tai Shan was forced to walk around the big area to find the food," Huang said.

"Now, he is much stronger and has a better body shape. And his hair is more lustrous."

Huang said Tai Shan is "bilingual for sure".

"At first, Tai Shan was not familiar with my Chinese orders, so I used his American feeder's orders - blowing a whistle to call him back inside for meals," Huang said.

While Tai Shan ate, Huang would touch him gently and with a light Sichuan accent use his name and give simple orders. Within two weeks, Tai Shan could recognize Huang's voice and orders.

Two months ago, an American group came to visit Tai Shan and spoke English to him. Tai Shan also responded to them, Huang said.

"Pandas are very intelligent."

Tai Shan has also begun to growl at other male pandas when he sees them in the back yard.

"It's like Tai Shan is claiming his territory," Huang said.

The Ya'an center was built in early 2008 as a backup compound for the nearby Wolong panda center.

"The idea of the center was to isolate pandas if an infectious disease was threatening them," Tang said.

During the Sichuan earthquake in May 2008, the Wolong center, then the biggest panda reserve center in China, was destroyed and all the pandas were moved to Ya'an.

Wolong, also in Sichuan province, is now being rebuilt and most of the pandas at the research center are being moved back gradually.

"We don't have enough room for all the pandas," Tang said.