Le Le and Ya Ya in the Spotlight

Among the three US zoos to exhibit giant pandas is the Memphis Zoo, home to Le Le and Ya Ya.  The two have been in Tennessee for pushing twenty years, anchoring the zoo's China Exhibit.  I saw them in early 2008, visiting on a bright winter morning while passing through Tennessee.  Despite the usual fondness pandas show for cold weather, they were hunkered down in their indoor holding, sitting among mounds of bamboo, munching away as pandas are wont to do.  They weren't the immediate draw for me that they were for many other visitors - I'd seen giant pandas already at other US zoos - but I spent some time watching them.  They struck me as, well, typical pandas.

What hasn't been typical has been the sudden bizarre attention fixation that the bears have been subject to.  A viral picture early this year showed Ya Ya looking thin and a little patchy in her coat, which raised some concerns.  The zoo addressed these, saying that she was an older bear with some fur issues, and was under treatment for them.  Fair enough.  I've worked with old bears before - old all sorts of animals - and it's true, at a certain age, no matter what you do, they're going to start looking a bit shabby.  Applies to the keepers, too.

The hullabaloo faded away quickly, as internet outrage has a tendency to do.

Memphis Zoo rebuts claims of panda mistreatment

For some reason, this past week it's resurged with a vengeance.  I've seen lots of identical or nearly identical comments (also nearly identical with their atrocious grammar) demanding that the pandas be repatriated to China - they're spamming the facebook pages of the zoo, the City of Memphis, AZA, etc.  I'm a little puzzled by where it's coming from.  I wouldn't think that shipping two elderly animals on a long, stressful flight across the world would be in their interest.  It's not like the Chinese government - which owns the animals - is unaware that they are in Memphis and doesn't receive frequent updates on their status.  And I continue to be confused why so many people online think that they are experts on things that they have no experience with.

Memphis Zoo did the right thing in addressing the concerns earlier this year when they first arose, though I suspect they may have to again just to clarify the pandas' health status.  I'm a big believer in zoos having open communication and honesty with the public - I just hate it when it has to be in response to kneejerk, ill-informed, internet "activism."