Every bear that ever there was gathered at Adelaide Zoo today to celebrate two very special black and white birthdays!
Visitors, keepers and volunteers came together to wish Giant Pandas Fu Ni and Wang Wang a Happy Birthday and enjoy their annual Teddy Bear’s Picnic.
Wang Wang was born on 31 August and will turn 17 next week, while Fu Ni celebrated turning sweet 16 on 23 August.
The pandas were treated to outer space-themed fun with panda-naut, rocket and alien-shaped enrichment created by the talented BEEZA team and filled with scented sawdust to roll around in and delicious panda cake.
A lover of scent-based enrichment, Wang Wang also put his best paw forward freshening up with a lavender-scented bubble bath.
Throughout the day, visitors took part in the fun with free face painting, crafts, teddy dental checks in a pop-up panda tent at the entry of the zoo.
After a special keeper talk and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday sung to the pandas, guests set up picnics in the sunshine around the zoo gardens.
Director of Adelaide Zoo, Dr Phil Ainsley, said the event is a fun way to celebrate an amazing species.
“The Teddy Bear’s Picnic is a lovely way to bring the zoo community together to not only enjoy a fun event but also learn more about a very special species,” he said.
“Giant Pandas are vulnerable to extinction in the wild, so Wang Wang and Fu Ni act as incredible ambassadors for their wild cousins and help us all understand more about their species’ conservation.”
Giant Pandas used to range throughout southern and eastern China, Myanmar and north Vietnam. Today they live in six major mountains ranges in the Sichuan and Gansu Provinces.
Like all bear species the Giant Panda is a natural meat eater, however this unique bear has adapted to live on an almost solely vegetarian diet.
They possess huge molar teeth and powerful jaw muscles to break the woody parts of bamboo and chew the stem, culms and leaves with ease.
Listed as vulnerable by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, there are thought to be only 1864 Giant Pandas left in the wild.
Wang Wang and Fu Ni are part of the international Giant Panda research, conservation and breeding program designed to preserve this amazing species.
In support of international efforts to create and conserve Giant Panda habitat, Zoos SA, alongside the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda, are helping to develop scientific knowledge about pandas’ nutritional requirements and reproductive biology.
For more information about Giant Pandas or Adelaide Zoo, please visit adelaidezoo.com.au.
