SNN (ScrollingNetworkNews) ✿ ✿ Our Mel and Sydney returned to their nesting box with plenty of bonding occurring..but after 2.5 months of Sydney in the box from Dec 2013 to mid Feb 2014, the lack of prey gifts from Mel ( perhaps due to the severe and historic drought underway in California)and they have forgone the nesting process this year as many other raptors ✿ Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents – often regarded as pests by humans – than possibly any other creature. ✿ We remind viewers that sometimes owlets may not survive - the parents will dispose of things in "The Owl Way" -viewer discretion is advised, this is nature and the "Owl way". ✿ ~ ✿ “Animals, like us, are living souls. They are not things. They are not objects. Neither are they human. Yet they mourn. They love. They dance. They suffer. They know the peaks and chasms of being.” ― Gary Kowalski, The Souls of Animals ✿ Each species is a masterpiece, a creation assembled with extreme care and genius." ~ E.O. Wilson

Thursday, November 8, 2012

100-day-old panda cub needs a name

The newest giant panda cub at the San Diego Zoo is now 100 days old, which means it's time to name him.

 The cub was born on July 29, but the zoo has held off on naming him in keeping with a Chinese tradition. Nearly 35,000 votes were cast to decide on one of six suggested names for the panda: Qi Ji (Miracle), Yu Di (Raindrop), Da Hai (Big Ocean or Big Sea), Xiao Liwu (Little Gift), Yong Er (Brave Son) or Shui Long (Water Dragon).
 The poll is now closed, and the zoo plans to announce the winning name in a ceremony on the morning of Nov. 13.

 The cub's mom, Bai Yun (White Cloud), has given birth to five other cubs at the San Diego Zoo. Four of those offspring were moved to China to join the country's giant panda conservation and breeding program, while her son Yun Zi (Son of Cloud) remains at the zoo.

 Researchers estimate only 1,600 giant pandas are left in the wild, and scientists maintain that captive breeding is an important way for them to study and conserve the endangered species.
In fact, just last week China announced the birth of seven new panda cubs this year at the world's largest giant panda reserve, the Chengdu Panda Base.

Another panda cub from a Chengdu Panda Base mom was born in Japan.

The names of those furballs: Oreo, Xiao Qiao, Si Yi, Yuan Run, Miao Miao, You Bin, and twins Cheng Shuang and Cheng Dui