Three year old panda Mei Lan and her 4 year old cousin, Tai Shan, were flown this morning from the United States to China aboard a plane dubbed “The Panda Express.” The two pandas were living at Zoo Atlanta and the National Zoo in Washington, respectively. They were on loan from China and are being sent back to help repopulate the endangered species.
One of the interesting transitions for the pandas to make will be to learn to understand commands in Chinese. Being raised in the United States, the pandas have been trained in English. Therefore, a Chinese language teacher is being hired.
The Minnesota Zoo has welcomed a female gibbon to their zoo. Born about three weeks ago, the gibbon was not being cared for by her mother. She is a white-cheeked gibbon, a critically endangered species.
Our favorite part of this video is the sounds that the baby makes. She sounds like R2D2.
Just as polar bears are in critical danger as global warming melts the ice caps, limiting their habitat, Bengal tigers are also threatened by this phenomenon. Making their homes among the Sundarbans, a mangroves ecosystem in Bangladesh, Bengal tigers number around 4000 in the wild. As polar caps melt, sea levels will rise. According to a Climactic Change journal report by the World Wildlife Fund, by 2070, the sea levels near Bangladesh will rise 11 inches, submerging 96% of the Bengal tiger habitat. This provides space for only 20 breeding pairs, which is not enough to sustain the population.
SeaWorld aquarist Jenny Albert covers up a “cold stunned” endangered green turtle to keep the animal warm at SeaWorld’s Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.
Many green sea turtles have been adversely affected by the Arctic blast that has swept over most of the U.S. recently. Two dozen “cold-stunned” green sea turtles have been taken in by SeaWorld’s Rescue and Rehabilitation Center in Orlando, Florida, where they are treating the endangered turtles with heat lamps, blankets, and warm fluids.
To learn more about green sea turtles, read Animal Fact Guide’s article: Green Turtle.
Four endangered northern white rhinos have been moved to Kenya from a Czech zoo. There are no northern white rhinos left in the wild and only eight left in captivity.
Wildlife workers hope that the move to the game preserve will result in an increase in reproduction for the rhinos. In 24 years at the Czech zoo the rhinos did not reproduce.
The overall aim of the project is to eventually reintroduce northern white rhinos into their native habitats in Africa.
The brown pelican has faced many threats in the last hundred years. At the brink of extinction in the early 1900s, brown pelicans were hunted for their feathers. In the 1970s, their populations struggled again due to the chemical DDT which weakened their eggs so they cracked prematurely. In recent years, they faced Gulf Coast oil spills and Hurricane Katrina. But finally, federal officials say the brown pelican population has recovered enough to be removed from the endangered species list.
On September 13, Busch Gardens welcomed a baby bongo, an antelope native to the rainforests of Africa. This particular subspecies of bongo, the Eastern Mountain bongo, is considered critically endangered by the IUCN, with an estimated population of only 75-140 individuals alive in the wild.
Quadruplet red panda cubs have been born in the Denver Zoo. The three boys and one girl are only the fifth group of quadruplets born in the United States.
Their parents, Sophia and He-Ping, were matched up from different zoos in an effort to maintain healthy and genetically diverse populations. They gave birth to a set of twins last year.
Red pandas are listed as endangered species, with only 2500 in the wild. They are found in the Himalayas and feed mainly on bamboo. They are at risk because of hunting and habitat destruction.
For more information and to download a baby red panda wallpaper, visit The Denver Zoo website.
Climate change may be to blame for decreasing populations of pikas, a furry relative of rabbits. Pikas make their home in the mountainous regions of the western United States but are threatened by rising temperatures. While other animals are able to move as a way to adapt to changing temperatures, pikas will not migrate. Once they decide on a home they will stay there, even if it results in their death.
If the pika becomes listed as a threatened or endangered species, laws can be changed or created to curb activities that create greenhouse gases.
Bai Yun, who was reported last month to be pregnant, has given birth to a cub this week. She has given birth to four other cubs in her life: Hua Mei, Mei Sheng, Su Lin and Zhen Zhen. The most recent cub has yet to be named.
Although it was possible that she would give birth to twins, it appears that she will not give birth to the second cub. Pandas have the ability to reabsorb a fetus if it is not fully developed.
Quadruplet red panda cubs have been born in the Denver Zoo. The three boys and one girl are only the fifth group of quadruplets born in the United States.
Climate change may be to blame for decreasing populations of pikas, a furry relative of rabbits. Pikas make their home in the mountainous regions of the western United States but are threatened by rising temperatures. While other animals are able to move as a way to adapt to changing temperatures, pikas will not migrate. Once they decide on a home they will stay there, even if it results in their death.
Bai Yun, 
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