Quake-Rattled Pandas Get Hugs, Bamboo

Rare animals will return to Sichuan preserve by 2012

(NEWSER) - Sixty giant pandas displaced after a massive earthquake rocked China last year will head home to their nature preserve, reports Xinhua. China is pouring $55 million into rebuilding the endangered animals' Sichuan Province base that previously housed 63 pandas. One died in the quake, one went missing, and one died of illness. More»

After quarantine, Tai Shan and Mei Lan will be split up

(NEWSER) - China rolled out the red carpet today for pandas Tai Shan and Mei Lan, who arrived in Chengdu after a 15-hour flight from the US. Tai Shan was born at the National Zoo in Washington and Mei Lan at the Atlanta Zoo, but because their parents are Chinese, they had to be returned to China under a longstanding agreement. After the welcoming ceremony, the two will spend a month in quarantine, and then will be sent to separate panda preserves. More»

Washington's Tai Shan and Atlanta's Mei Lan moving to China to breed

(NEWSER) - Washington will bid its favorite panda adieu on Feb. 4, when Tai Shan leaves for China to breed, accompanied by Zoo Atlanta's Mei Lan. “It's like sending off your own child to college,” Tai Shan's fan club founder tells the Post , adding that fan club members have raised $10,000 to “adopt” Tai Shan, born at the National Zoo four years ago, and in return, “They'll send us updates and photographs.” His farewell party is Saturday, with Feb. 3 his last day on view at the zoo. More»

Chinese institute boasts just four births this year

(NEWSER) - The breeding program at China's Chengdu panda institute has produced just four pandas this year. Researchers say the panda mothers are mostly too exhausted to conceive more babies after last year's record 18 births, the Times of London reports. This year's births included twins Wen Li and Ya L, born in July. Wen Li has been this year's troublemaker and has made repeated escape attempts, institute workers complain. More»

(NEWSER) - Tai Shan, the giant panda who captivated the world as a cub, turned 4 today and celebrated with a huge birthday cake only an animal could love. The three-tiered concoction was a frozen medley of water, beet juice, shredded beets, and bamboo, WTOP reports. Tai Shan, who is now considered a teenager in "bear years," is scheduled to head to China in 2010 under the terms of the breeding program that brought his parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, to the US from their native land. More»