July - Surprise...Polar bear cubs in Laohutan....

Gestern schickte mir eine Freundin den Link zu einem Artikel, in dem die Geburt von zwei chinesischen Eisbärenbabys letzten Mittwoch der Öffentlichkeit bekanntgegeben wird. Als ich den Artikel endlich mit den Bildern heruntergeladen hatte, war ich für eine Weile wirklich baff...Noch nie hatte ich von Eisbären gehört, die Ende Juli geboren wurden. Und wieder Handaufzuchten, wie es auch schon der Fall bei Taotao war, der übrigens ebenfalls ein wenig später als sonst eisbärenüblich das Licht der Welt erblickt hatte(9.März 2008), und um das Maß noch voller zu machen, alles im gleichen Zoo...Ich erkannte sogar prompt die Tierpflegerin von Taotao wieder...Alles Zufall?-

Yesterday a friend sent me the link leading to the article announcing the arrival of two polar bear cubs in China last Wednesday. I was really puzzled for a while... Have you ever heard about polar bears born by the end of July...? And again to be hand-raised as it was the case with Taotao who by the way was also born a bit late (March 09 in 2008), and all this happening in the same park...I even recalled the lady feeding the little ones...Too much of a coincedence...A keeper feeds a polar bear cub in Laohutan Ocean Park in Dalian of northeast China's Liaoning Province, July 29, 2009. Two polar bear cubs, one female and one male, were born on Wednesday in Laohutan Ocean....
A keeper holds the polar bear cubs...
Two polar bear cubs are kept in a nursing box....

Und für alle, die sich wie ich über dieses späte Geburtsdatum wundern...Hier ein Auszug aus einem Artikel, den ich gefunden habe, vielleicht ein kleiner Hinweis, der zu Antworten führt...Es scheint, dass hier in die natürlichen Abläufe eingegriffen wurde, Laohutan gehört mit zu einer Gruppe von Projekten, die Genforschung zu Tieren betreiben, die unter extremen Umweltbedingungen leben, ausgewählt wurden neben Kaiserpinguinen, Tibetanischen Antilopen auch Eisbären. Wie weitgehend wird in dem Artikel nicht deutlich, in einem weiteren Artikel gibt es jedoch einen Hinweis auf Taotao (den ich damals nicht hatte), als erstes künstlich gezeugte Eisbärbaby...("This polar bear cub is the first born from artificial breeding in the park."/Quelle)

And for all those who are as me wondering about that late birth in the year...maybe this is a hint of what is going on...It seems that natural course has been manipulated, Laohutan OceanPark forms part of a genome project... This is what I found so far beside another hint (which I hadn't when I did my postings) about Taotao as "first born from artificial breeding in the park":

"BGI-Shenzhen, in association with several other research institutes, announced today (27.04.2009)the launch of three new genome projects that focus on animals living in extreme environments. The three selected genomes are those of two polar animals: the polar bear and emperor penguin, and one altiplano animal: the Tibetan antelope.

These projects will be carried out using Next-generation sequencing technologies, which have already enabled rapid, accurate, and cost effective completion of several other large genome projects at BGI-Shenzhen, including the Panda and the first Asian individual genomes. This powerful technology will be used here to construct complete genome sequences for each of these animals and to carry out detailed genome-wide analyses, including the identification of gene function and determination of the genomic basis of their unique evolution and extreme environmental-adaptation. (...)

The institutions associated with this project currently include BGI Shenzhen, Illumina Inc., the Dalian laohutan Ocean Park Research Center, Qinghai University, the Institute of Oceanology (Chinese academy of Sciences), and the polar Research Institute of China. "(whole article here)

Sources & photo credits: Xinhua & Ren Yong

Related posts: Taotao's first birthday, Taotao - the hand-raised polar bear in China
Reference to artificial breeding of Taotao , Genome projects launched for three extreme-environment animals/27.04.09

生日快樂 - Happy Birthday, Taotao!

Diesen Bären mit Lätzchen (ich geb es zu und wie auch Frau UlliJ sagen würde, SEHR gewöhnungsbedürftig...), kennen wir schon. Im Januar berichteten wir zum ersten Mal über Taotao, eine chinesische Handaufzucht. Im Januar wog dieser nette Bärenjunge (jawoll, auch ein Junge!) noch 35 kg, gestern waren es schon 102 kg! Und es sieht aus, als wenn es zum Geburtstag echte Sahnetorte für ihn gab, ich entdecke zumindest keinen Fisch...

Wie auch immer, alles Gute nachträglich zum Geburtstag, Taotao!Polar bear boy (yes, it's a boy...)Taotao enjoys one year birthday cake at Dalian Laohutan Ocean Park, in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, Mar. 9, 2009. Handraised Taotao who was born in the park on March 9th, 2008 has grown up from the beginning of 495 grams to 102 kilograms now.In January, when we introduced him in the K-files, he just weighed 35 KG, maybe he got cream cake not only yesterday?

Happy birthday, little Taotao, and hopefully lots of good fish from now on...!

Photo credits: Xinhua/Ren Yong
Learn more about Taotao here (English/Deutsch)

Taotao...the hand-raised polar bear from China

Das ist TaoTao, ein kleiner Eisbär von 10 Monaten, der in China ähnlich wie Knut handaufgezogen wird. Seine mit 9 Jahren noch relativ junge Mutter wusste nach der Geburt nicht so richtig,was sie mit ihm anstellen sollte. Eine sehr schwierige Handaufzucht begann, Taotao gehört zu den ersten Eisbären in China, die dort geboren wurden, seit wenige Exemplare dorthin eingeführt wurden.
Hier folgt Taotaos Geschichte auf Englisch, den Artikel hat Ulli J. gefunden.Die dt. Übersetzung von Ulli findet ihr entweder im 2. Kommentar oder im neuen Forum.Danke!

Taotao, a 10-month-old polar bear sways and waves his paws in the air as if saying hello to his visitors. ...Like Knut, the polar bear from Germany, Taotao was abandoned by his young mother shortly after birth, according to Li Li, a keeper at Laohutan Ocean Park in Dalian, Liaoning province.

Li says that Taotao is one of the first generation of polar bears born and raised in China since this rare species was introduced. He was in such a vulnerable condition at first that he had to be kept in a special incubator for weeks.

“We sat beside the incubator 24 hours every day to monitor his temperature and breathing, help with his urination and defecation, and even smell his waste to tell if he was healthy,” Li says.

During the first few weeks, keepers had to wipe their hands and clothes with Taotao’s diapers in order to smell familiar to Taotao, or it would not let keepers come close, according to Sun Shijia, one of Taotao’s keepers at the park. As the days went by, Taotao grew more attached to its keepers.

“He sucked our fingers like a nursing infant and purred like a gentle cat being caressed,” says Li Ping, another of Taotao’s keepers.

Taotao often bit them tenderly, according to Li, a way of showing affection and happiness during play. Even so, the keepers’ hands and arms were black and blue.

After meticulous care for 10 months, Taotao grew quickly from several hundred grams at birth to the present 35 kg. Sun says the helpless baby with light pink skin and fine soft hair has grown into a vigorous child with snow-white fur and an air of charming naivety.

Taotao swims in his special swimming pool every day. On hot days he lingers in the pool for hours, paddling in the water and splashing. Sometimes the keepers have no alternative but to carry him out, according to Li Ping. ...

Keeper Li says that Taotao’s parents were from Finland and were presented by the Finland National Park as ambassadors of friendship between China and Finland in 2001, settling in Laohutan Ocean Park.

Taotao was not born until seven years later. According to Li, the reason for this was that the male bear is 16 years old this year, or over 40 in human terms, while the female bear is only 9, still quite young, in comparison.

Taotao was born on March 9, 2008. Sun says the inexperienced mother was at a loss, confused by the birth of this poor little creature and left him on the cold ground.

Taotao survived thanks to his human nannies, who spared no effort in taking care of him.

“We have given Taotao more care than our own children,” Sun says.

Story and photos: MySinchew/By KANG SHU in Beijing/ China Daily/ AsiaNews