The newborn giant panda at Taipei Zoo is currently in her most carefree phase of existence . She has people looking after her every day. All she has to do now is nurse then sleep, then nurse and sleep again. To give the newborn panda alone in the incubator a sense of security, the keepers cover her with a small blanket made out of sterile medical gauze. The blanket is held down at both ends with two silicone giant pandas named “Ping Ping” and “An An” to create the impression that she is being held in her mother’s arms.
When the giant panda “Yuan Zai” was born in 2013, the keepers at the Giant Panda House at the time came up with a long list of ”secret weapons" they would need to purchase, just like we would for human babies. Once “Yuan Zai” grew up, all of the equipment was safely stored away for future use. The "secret weapons” were recently retrieved from their boxes then carefully cleaned and sterilized by the keepers before “Yuan Yuan” gave birth. To their surprise, these immediately came into use after the baby giant panda was born on June 28th.
The incubator housing the baby giant panda is set between 31 to 32 degrees Celsius. In addition to nursing the baby panda by hand at regular intervals, the keepers must also stimulate the baby between meals to help it urinate and defecate regularly. The baby is also frequently weighed once she has been given time to rest. The blanket must be replaced with fresh ones every day. Other baby items include a bottle sterilizer, milk mixer, UV blanket sterilizer, electronic scales, milk bottle brush, beakers, petri dish and thermometer/humidity meter.