Red Panda pics ... Paul

[KD_Palm]

Paul wrote: (new thread, hope you don't mind)
OTOH, I strongly disklike spammers as well, so I offer couple of Red
Panda pics ... http://homepage.mac.com/paulkierstead/rp/rp_index.html

Love 'em Paul. Up in Toronto huh? Ours died a long time ago. Amy was our
darling at the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo. She had been the basis of the red
panda researches here in the US back in the '70s & '80s. Lots of her kids
went to exhibits all over the world, if I recall correctly. She finally
passed on of old age.

Amy seemed friendly enough. When she did come out, she would visit with the
people through the fence. Never heard of anybody getting bit. I guess she
just liked to see the people as much as we liked seeing her. Of course, NO
feeding was allowed there. Didn't want her to become spoiled, or possibly
get hurt by it. Actually, I'm kind of glad that they closed her enclosure
after she died. We all liked to visit, but it didn't seem right to put
another panda in there just for show.

The park already has a lot of different animals that are very special. The
elephants and wolves have better housing now (yea!), The bears have been
transfered to other zoos, or were kept comfortable till they passed away.
And we still get the occasional exotic pet or injured wild ones to care for.
There really isn't any need to "fill out" the exhibits for the tourist
trade.

-- Keith

[Paul Kierstead]

I will top-post; very odd for me, but..

Glad you liked the photo's! I don't live in Toronto but visit on and off
and have been to the zoo a few times. In my experience, the Red Panda's
there are *extremely* shy. They seem to largely pretend the humans don't
exist outside of not ever getting to close to them. They are terribly
terribly cute. Now I will say most (actually all) of my visits have been
on brutally hot days (in the mid-30s plus high humidity) and like all
sensible mammals (humans don't qualify), they pass out in the heat and
nap. Ok, sleep dead to the world. One of my more memorable experiences
was watching a red panda quite high in a tree (10m maybe) flopped out on
a branch try to wake up an lift a paw. She could get it almost to the
branch before falling asleep again. Like a little kid. The pictures were
crap (lots of branches in the way) but it was great to be there.

Watch the TV show "Zoo Diaries", they had an episode where they tried to
examine on of the Red Panda's. Vet had a helluva time convincing the
panda to even get close; even with treats involved. You could bribe a
giant panda to do anything with a bit of bamboo, but the red ones are
more wary :)

PK

Post by KD_Palm
Paul wrote: (new thread, hope you don't mind)
OTOH, I strongly disklike spammers as well, so I offer couple of Red
Panda pics ... http://homepage.mac.com/paulkierstead/rp/rp_index.html
Love 'em Paul. Up in Toronto huh? Ours died a long time ago. Amy was our
darling at the Seattle Woodland Park Zoo. She had been the basis of the red
panda researches here in the US back in the '70s & '80s. Lots of her kids
went to exhibits all over the world, if I recall correctly. She finally
passed on of old age.
Amy seemed friendly enough. When she did come out, she would visit with the
people through the fence. Never heard of anybody getting bit. I guess she
just liked to see the people as much as we liked seeing her. Of course, NO
feeding was allowed there. Didn't want her to become spoiled, or possibly
get hurt by it. Actually, I'm kind of glad that they closed her enclosure
after she died. We all liked to visit, but it didn't seem right to put
another panda in there just for show.
The park already has a lot of different animals that are very special. The
elephants and wolves have better housing now (yea!), The bears have been
transfered to other zoos, or were kept comfortable till they passed away.
And we still get the occasional exotic pet or injured wild ones to care for.
There really isn't any need to "fill out" the exhibits for the tourist
trade.
-- Keith

[KD_Palm]

Post by Paul Kierstead
I will top-post; very odd for me, but..

Am I doing something wrong here? "top-post", is there suppose to be a proper
way to post messages? I'm still fairly new at this.

How did that song go... "mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday
sun..."
About Amy though, she spent a lot of time around humans, so I would guess
she didn't mind us so much. Nowadays, the zoos try to keep a "buffer" around
the animals. One-way glass, look-out points and hidden grottos so that the
animals will feel more "in nature". It also keeps the creeps from hurting
the animals too. I does make sense, I don't have to like it though.

I've spent much time in the wood, granted there isn't much of it left here
in the US, but I preffer to see the wildlife "out there". One of my past
jobs was a mineral prospector, I spent more time looking around than down...
:D
River Otter kits... just beautiful, and fun... their mom wasn't too pleased
I was there though. I don't blame her for that, but the kits were very
curious about the human.

I don't own a TV, I still live pretty much of a primitave lifestyle. Funny
how a computer tech can change when life throws a curve. Out here with the
trees and horses, but still managed to get online... ;)

Occasionaly, I do see a deer or cyote run through the field, and I believe a
few brown bears have come close, but I havn't seen them yet. The cyotes and
wolves are getting pretty thin right now, not much to eat here in January.

-- Keith

Post by Paul Kierstead
Watch the TV show "Zoo Diaries", they had an episode where they tried
to examine on of the Red Panda's. Vet had a helluva time convincing
the panda to even get close; even with treats involved. You could
bribe a giant panda to do anything with a bit of bamboo, but the red
ones are more wary :)
PK