Giant Pandas are on the endangered list of the World Conservation Union's Red List of Threatened Animals. There are only about 1,600 left in the world, with most of them living in China. They actually survive longer in zoos than they do in the wild. They could live to be 35 years old. Tai Shan's parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are on a ten year loan from China and are part of a research, conservation, and breeding program aimed to preserve Giant Pandas. They are supposed to return to China next year. Tai Shan was supposed to return to China after he turned 2, but they extended his stay until this year, which made me very happy. So far, no plans have been made for his return.I have been following Tai Shan on the zoo's pandacam since the day he was born. He was the cutest thing ever to watch! He lived exclusively with his mom, Mei Xiang and separate from his dad, Tian Tian, who was in the yard next door and rarely even noticed his family. Now, when you tune into the cam, it's difficult to tell who you are watching. The pandas are sometimes all together and sometimes separated, depending on what's going on, breeding times, etc. Mei Xiang just finished going through her ovulation period. We all watched hopefully to see if she would produce another baby. It's very interesting. The pandas go through a pseudopregnancy after mating. We don't know whether or not they really are pregnant until the end. Unfortunately, Mei Xiang was not pregnant this year. Oh well....maybe next year!
