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Thursday, September 9, 2010

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Super Su !







The country of China is working hard to prevent the extinction of its iconic furry creature, the Giant Panda. To that end, China has loaned breeding pairs to approved zoos where the staff will work equally hard to raise young pandas to send to China. The San Diego Zoo has "returned" two zoo-born young adults to China already, and now plans are being made to send 5-year-old Su Lin to the pandas' homeland as well.
Su Lin is "my baby panda", the only panda youngster I've seen personally, so I'm trying not to get overly emotional about "losing" her, but it isn't easy.
Dick and I took these pictures when were in San Diego for the first World Baseball Classic in 2006. They show Su Lin when she was 6 or 7 months old, an age when wild pandas spend most of their time high up in trees for safety, while their mothers look for food. So here, silhouetted against the California sky is 'Super Panda' Su, dreaming of leaping tall buildings in a single bound.

See the sky from many other points of view, also, this week at Skywatch Friday.

39 comments:

VioletSky said...

she is adorable. I have never seen a panda in real life.

Kay L. Davies said...

Yes, isn't she sweet? I've been watching the San Diego Zoo panda cam for years. Give it a try.
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam/
The youngest panda there now is Su Lin's little brother Yun Zi who is equally adorable. He just had his first birthday last month.
I never thought I'd see a live panda, but when my husband suggested going to San Diego for baseball, I jumped all over the idea. He fell in love with the city, too, so I'm sure we'll go back.

Carver said...

Those are wonderful shots of the adorable panda.

Rajesh said...

Beautiful shots. The Panda is s cute and it is occupying the tree very nicely.

Hildred said...

Great shots, - how lucky you are to have had the opportunity to see these little sweethearts.

EG CameraGirl said...

What neat shots! Interesting that they spend a good portion of their lives in the trees when they are young.

Kay said...

Su is adorable. It must have been so much fun to see her. I remember how interesting it was to visit the Washington zoo and see the pandas there a long time ago.

Sylvia K said...

Great shots and she is adorable indeed! I always love visiting the pandas here when I have the opportunity! Have a wonderful weekend!

Sylvia

Lesley said...

I was going to say something about her getting too big to climb trees - and I see you have a link to a web cam. I'm off to check that out!

Kay L. Davies said...

You're right, Lesley, Su Lin is too big now. She's big enough to go to China to raise more panda cubs. These days you'll see Yun Zi climbing trees, however, and he's hilarious, a ham like his daddy, Gao Gao.

Helena said...

These are very cool shots. I've never seen a panda in real life but I'd like to one day... they look like such amazing creatures.

Jim said...

Great captures.

Living In Williamsburg Virginia said...

Great shots. And, she is cute.

Darryl and Ruth : )

D said...

Hello Kay, thanks for stopping by and for your kind comments. Yes, your friend should do exactly as you tell her. ;) If she does decide, please let me know. I'd love to pay a visit.

The pandas are wonderful; we used to go to San Diego about once a year some time ago, and seeing them at the zoo was an all time favorite. I'm not sure who loved them more, me or our grandchildren.

Linnea said...

She looks quite at home up there in the trees! Maybe between munching on those tasty leaves, she's doing a bit of skywatching too! Thanks for stopping by. Great shots here.

Rob Siemann said...

She's lovely!

Unknown said...

she's adorable! i worry those frail-looking branches won't be able to support her. great shots!

Rimkogeren said...

Thanks for your comment :-)Great contribution to Skywatch - Have a nice weekend.

Pearl Maple said...

Fun photos, lucky you, not everyone gets to see them upclose like this,thanks for sharing

Suffeli kuvailee said...

THANK YOU for stopping by my side in the village ;) VERY BEAUTIFUL PICTURES YOU ARE HERE ! Have a wonderful weekend ;)

PJ said...

Definitely the best view I've seen all week! I didn't know that the offspring were being sent back to China, I hope there's a replacement baby panda soon.

Wifey10 said...

oh this is so cute..Kung Fu panda!hehe..Have a great weekend! Hope you can visit me back!
http://alwaysfilipina.blogspot.com/

Francisca said...

Those branches barely look strong enough to hold Super Su...! Cute.

Kay L. Davies said...

For those of you worried about the branches -- panda cubs seem to have a climbing instinct that includes knowing which branches will hold them. I don't know the scientific explanation for this.
The youngest cub at the zoo now is Su Lin's little brother, Yun Zi. He's just a year old and won't be going anywhere soon.
In between is their 3-year-old sister Zhen Zhen. She and Yun Zi are a lot of fun to watch on youtube or flickr.
I believe there are plans to send Zhennie to China as well, but do not know the details. However, the panda breeding center in China needs zoo-born pandas to help with genetic diversity of the species.

Karine said...

She looks sdorable! I often get to attached to all sorts of critters too, when I was little I would even get attached to our Chrismas trees and Halloween Pumpkins lol

The Giraffe Head Tree said...

Awesome! Never seen a Panda in real life - these seem so super cute and super worthy of rescue. Thank you so much for visiting my blog today - I'll be back for a visit soon!

Dimple said...

You have chosen very good sky shots; the sky is a perfect background for this super panda!
Thanks for the visit--you are right that the grass in the upper right is not reflected, that is, not all of it is!

Lynette Killam said...

These are great shots, Kay! Pandas really are incredibly endearing..no doubt you'll miss Su Lin very much when she's moved. But how wonderful that she's healthy and strong enough to start her own family now! Do keep us apprised of her progress, if you're able to. Love this post...:)

Gigi Ann said...

What a great experience to get to see a Panda live, and capture pictures of it as well. Su is a real cutie.

Anonymous said...

Love your photos and post about the Giant Panda. Very unique sky shots!

Elisa said...

Hi Kay,
Your French and your Spanish are great. Well done!
Thanks for passing by my blog and leaving your nice comment.
Best regards from Argentina to Alberta :)
Elisa

Martha Z said...

Wonderful! What a treat to see these creatures in person.

Harry Snowden said...

These are great Kay! I've never seen images of pandas in trees! And because they were so cute, my first impression was that somebody had thrown a teddy bear up in a tree!

Kay L. Davies said...

Elisa -- Thanks. I must tell that to my Montreal-raised husband and my Mexico-raised young brother.
K

Powell River Books said...

That tree doesn't look strong enough to support such a big panda. When I taught school we always took our first graders to the LA Zoo. They loved it but I was always a wreck making sure we didn't lose any critters of our own. - Margy

Greg Dimitriadis said...

Extremely cute! Thank you for your comment on Liege City Daily Photo. In answer to your question, spring is usually sunny in Belgium especially in April and May.

Linda said...

Amazing that they can manipulate their bulk safely up in the branches. Possibly the most unique Skywatch I've seen.

And I love San Diego in any aspect.

Diane AZ said...

These pictures are adorable. I watched Su Lin grow up on the panda cam. I hope she likes her new home. :)

ruthinian said...

I have not seen a live panda yet and wish to see one. They are one of the most adorable animals and it is just right that we help protect and save them from extinction.