Bei Bei, the Giant Panda Cub Wants Nothing to Do with the Media and Falls Asleep During His Debut

The little “tank” had been squirming in his den for much of the morning, trying to get his stubby back legs to work and rolling in the bamboo, and when animal keeper Nicole MacCorkle scooped him up, he was tired.

She toted him down a corridor and placed him on a table covered in blue cloth, as news cameras clattered. She weighed him — 17.5 pounds — and looked at his teeth. He took a few steps, fell fast asleep and began to drool.

So went the much-anticipated media debut this week of the National Zoological Park’s 4-month-old giant panda, Bei Bei, who was named by the first ladies of two countries and was described by keepers as “precious” and “beautiful” — and as rugged as a tank.

Born in August, along with his doomed twin brother, Bei Bei has grown into a muscular cub with all four of his canine teeth, wide paws, and sharp claws that have been dulled only a little as he has become more mobile.

But he still is nursing several times a day and has never been outside. His limited eyesight makes him a little jumpy, keepers said Monday during the first of his media appearances this week.

He made other appearances Tuesday and Wednesday and makes his public debut Jan. 16.

For now, Bei Bei resembles a miniature version of the 275-pound bruiser that he will become when he is full grown in about six years. And his thick black and white fur is getting as tough as an adult panda’s.

“The cub’s [fur] are a little softer, but as they grow, their fur gets a little bit more coarse,” said zoo biologist Laurie Thompson, who had spotted Bei Bei’s birth on the night of Aug. 22. “It’s kind of like wool, and that helps keep them warm.”

“The cubs are very dense and heavy,” she said. “They’re not fragile, at all.”

Bei Bei, who first opened his eyes in October, can see better but still not well, Thompson said. “If something is peripheral to him,” it can startle him, she said.

“He can definitely look at us, but he gets spooked a bit by fast movements,” she said.

Thompson said the keepers wanted to wait until he can walk well before they let him go out. She said Bei Bei will probably be allowed out in January or February, depending on the weather.

The keepers said he is big for his age, putting on about a pound a week. “He is bigger than all of our other cubs,” Thompson said.

His hearing is good, and he knows the voices of his keepers. “The most important thing we can do for these animals is make sure that they know when we call, we are the safe place to come to,” said Brandie Smith, the zoo’s associate director for animal care sciences.

The birth of Bei Bei, whose name is pronounced “bay bay” and means “precious treasure,” was only the third time that giant panda twins had been born in the United States. The zoo initially said Bei Bei was the second cub born, but now officials say they are uncertain.

The zoo’s adult male giant panda, Tian Tian, fathered both cubs, after the mother, Mei Xiang, was artificially inseminated in the spring with his semen and that of a panda in China.

Bei Bei has an older sister, Bao Bao, who was born at the zoo Aug. 23, 2013, and still lives there. He also has an older brother, Tai Shan, who was born in 2005 and lives in a panda conservation center in China.

The birth of Bei Bei and his twin, who was never named, posed a delicate problem for the zoo. Panda mothers often have a hard time caring for two cubs, and usually only one survives.

So the zoo tried switching the cubs — leaving one with Mei Xiang while keepers cared for the other. After a time, the keepers would switch the cubs back, so each one got time with Mei Xiang.

But after several days, it suddenly appeared that the smaller twin was seriously sick. During one of the switches, keepers saw that it was lethargic and was having trouble breathing.

[The six-hour effort to save the panda cub]

The cub, which weighed only three ounces, had contracted pneumonia after inhaling formula it was being fed by keepers, the zoo said later.

Zoo veterinarians placed the cub in an incubator, pumped in oxygen and administered antibiotics, fluids and nutrition. Nothing worked. The cub went into cardiac and respiratory arrest. The veterinarians tried gentle CPR, but at 2 p.m. Aug. 26, the cub died.

The zoo’s staff members were devastated, but they still celebrated the survival of Bei Bei, whose name was selected and announced Sept. 25 by first lady Michelle Obama and the first lady of China, Peng Liyuan.

Keepers said Bei Bei has had most of his shots — he gets stuck in a rear leg — has tasted bamboo leaves and has started playing with his mother. He won’t start eating solid foods until he’s about 6 months old.

Mei Xiang, for her part, “is a phenomenal mother,” zoo keeper MacCorkle said. “She always just amazes us with her patience with him. He’ll be crawling on her. She’s trying to eat. She will very subtly push him away.”

She also still hauls him around by holding the scruff of his neck with her mouth.

Bei Bei’s mobility remains limited. His back legs are still uncoordinated. “He’s just figuring out how to use his back legs,” zoo biologist Thompson said. “He’s a little wobbly on them.”

But giant pandas don’t do much running. Tian Tian, the adult male, runs when he hears thunder, the keepers said, and during the 2011 earthquake on the East Coast, all of the pandas ran.

Bei Bei, as with other giant pandas born at the zoo, will eventually be sent to China, the species’ native land. China owns and leases all giant pandas in U.S. zoos and requires that cubs born in the United States go to China to breed when they are about 4 years old.

“It’s very sad,” Thompson said. “But we know, as keepers that work with pandas, that that’s the case. . . . So you definitely try to . . . not get overly attached. . . . You just kind of get it in your head, ‘No, these cubs are going.’ ”

“You just have to remind yourself,” she said.

FOLLOW US!

Coyotes Remained on the Run Thursday in Both the Suburbs and City, Residents Remained on Edge as They Were Warned of Possible Danger

New York, New York – Coyotes remained on the run Thursday in both the suburbs and city, residents remained on edge as they were warned of possible danger.

As CBS2’s Matt Kozar reported, at least one coyote has been spotted more than once now by CBS2 cameras running around Riverside Drive.

CBS2 cameras captured the coyote at 4:45 a.m. at Riverside Drive and 96th Street, and then again around 5:38 a.m., CBS2’s Janelle Burrell reported. The second time, the coyote sprinted in front of Mobile 2 and scampered across the street toward Grant’s Tomb in Morningside Heights.

The animal kept going right into oncoming traffic.

Burrell spoke with two people who had encounters of their own with the coyote Thursday morning.

“I was walking my dog this morning, and about 10 feet away a coyote came out from the park right in front of us, and it ran past us very close and it just kept going further down Riverside Park,” one woman said.

“I was driving, going downtown on Riverside Drive, and he crossed right in front of me and I almost hit him. I had to stop,” another man said.

“I was walking and I was like, ‘Oh, there’s a dog,’ and (then) I’m like, ‘That’s not a dog,'” one witness told WCBS 880’s Paul Murnane.

On Wednesday evening, CBS2 captured exclusive video of a coyote as it pranced across Riverside Drive near West 79th Street around 11 p.m. It was not certain whether that coyote was the same one seen about 6 1/2 hours later.

Late Thursday afternoon, some young children were at soccer practice at the very same spot where a coyote had earlier led the NYPD on a chase.

Jody Miller was walking through the park with her pit bull, Cassius, in case of danger.

“Sometimes in the morning, people let their dogs off the leash, and this morning, I thought it would be stupid to leave the dog off the leash,” Miller said.

Police first spotted the coyote on Wednesday morning and were on the animal’s trail, but it managed to evade officers. The NYPD had officers spread out across the area with tranquilizer guns in hand after a sighting just after dawn.

It spurred a 40-block chase around Riverside Park from the mid-80s to Grant’s Tomb to West 122nd Street.

Morningside Heights resident Jim Burke walked his dogs right by where the last coyote was spotted Thursday.

“They’re more nocturnal, so they’re not going to be out during the day,” he said. “So I’m not too concerned at this point.”

The coyotes are exhibiting normal behavior and shying away from people, Burrell reported.

In Manhattan, most residents who live near where the animals have been spotted seem unfazed, actually more concerned about the coyote than themselves.

“I hope it doesn’t get hit,” Joseph said.

“I’m not worried. I think (if) there’s a dog on a leash, they’re not going to gobble them up. I think it’s OK,” said Yolanda Shashaty, of Morningside Heights.

John Nesti of Fischer Wildlife Control explained the coyotes’ movement and behavior to CBS2’s Meg Baker.

“The river acts as a natural corridor for the coyotes to move in,” he said. “(The Riverside Park coyote) is probably a year-and-a-half old coyote.”

Nesti believes the coyotes seen roaming city streets are not rabid, but looking for territory. It is the time of year when even young coyotes leave their dens.

“They can run the river and find all the food they need,” Nesti said.

The coyotes follow tracks – rivers, trains, and manmade trails. Nesti explained that is likely why they are showing up in the city.

Chris Nagy with the Gotham Coyote Project said his group has also been tracking dens in the Bronx.

For the few who are worried of being attacked, Nagy said the chances are very slim.

“The risk of being attacked by a coyote is somewhere in the realm of the risk of being attacked by a vending machine,” Nagy said.

Police say they are not sure if all of the recent sightings are of the same animal or if multiple coyotes have been roaming.

“It was kind of big,” Bronx grandmother Sylvia Ruiz described. “It was laying down there, moved its head around a little bit.”

Ruiz had an encounter with one of the animals inside her Co-Op City backyard. She snapped a picture of one relaxing underneath a bush and texted it to her daughter, a Co-Op City police officer.

“She said, ‘Oh, it’s a coyote!’ So they sent about four sergeants, and they all came in,” Ruiz said.

Experts say the best advice if you spot a coyote is to raise your arms above your head.

“Make some noise and scare the coyote off,” said Sarah Aucoin, director of urban park rangers for the city’s Parks Department.

Experts also say there is at least one advantage to having the coyotes in the city.

“They eat rats. They eat mice. They eat small mammals,” Aucoin said.

As Kozar reported, experts said further that it is a good thing coyotes are running away from humans – unlike what happened in Norwood, New Jersey. There, a rabid coyote bit a man, and another chewed through the tires on a police cruiser.

Multiple dens of coyotes have been found in Bergen County., and the trend continued Thursday morning.

Police Thursday moprning received a call about a coyote sighting on Cathy Court in Norwood, WCBS 880’s Peter Haskell reported.

Police Chief Jeff Krapels said his officers injured the animal.

“We followed a blood trail, probably about a half a mile, and we lost it,” he said. “So it’s sick and injured, and we’re just concerned that people may come across a blood puddle.”

Coyote sightings in Norwood are nothing new, but the police chief suspects the coyote population is growing.

“It’s a little bit nerve-racking with two young kids in the elementary school up here,” said Norwood resident Steve Whaley. “So we’re just keeping our eye out.”

There have also been coyote sightings in Summit.

FOLLOW US!

Norwood, New Jersey Police Say They Captured a Coyote Monday Night: Not Sure Whether it Was the Same Animal That Attacked a Resident on Sunday

Norwood, New Jersey -  Police say Monday night they may have been closing in on a coyote that bit a man in Bergen County, New Jersey over the weekend.

Norwood police said they captured a coyote Monday night, they were not sure whether it was the same animal that attacked Stephen Sinisi after 9 p.m. Sunday. Police said they believe the coyote captured Monday night was actually part of a different pack, but was described as “very aggressive.”

Norwood police said they also put traps near two coyote dens they discovered Monday night near a school.

Sinisi said he was walking his dog, Raleigh, near the woods on McClellan Street and D’Ercole Court when he saw what he thought was a stray dog approaching.

 “I was walking back and what looked like a dog approaching me,” Sinisi told CBS2’s Meg Baker.

“Then we got closer I was like, ‘No, this is not a stray dog,’” he told 1010 WINS’ Rebecca Granet.

Sinisi was attacked as he tried to get his dog back into the house.

“He saw a coyote stalking him, and he decided to return home,” police Chief Jeff Krapels said, WCBS 880’s Sean Adams reported. “As he was running home, the coyote caught up to him as he got to his front door and bit him on the leg.”

FOLLOW US!

Police in New Jersey Are Warning Parents to Keep Children and Small Pets Inside After a Series of Coyote Attacks and Sightings

Police in New Jersey are warning parents to keep their children and small pets inside after a series of coyote attacks and sightings and the discovery of two dens near a local school.

On Monday, a coyote was captured and later killed after officials in Norwood, N.J., say it attacked a police car.

"The coyote started to attack a police car," Norwood Police Chief Jeff Krapels told WABC-TV. "We called New Jersey Wildlife and they said that's not normal behavior for the coyote."

After a search of the area, police located the coyote behind a Norwood home. A wildlife officer shot and wounded the animal, police said, and it was later killed and taken to the state laboratory to be tested for rabies.

During their search, officials discovered two dens, including one that "has a tunnel towards the school."

School officials are keeping students inside as a precaution.

The discovery comes a day after a man was chased and bitten by a coyote while walking his dog in the same town.

"I was trying to get to the house fast because he wasn't going away," Stephen Sinisi told CBS New York. "As soon as I got to my door, I felt something on my back ankle."

Sinisi received four rabies shots.

On April 6, a man in nearby Saddle River was attacked by a coyote while working in his yard. That coyote, who attacked a dog the week before, tested positive for rabies and was euthanized.

Even before the latest attacks, there had been an uptick in coyote sightings in the tri-state area.

Via the New York Times:

This year alone, coyotes have turned up near a Consolidated Edison plant along the East River in the East Village; on a basketball court in Riverside Park; haunting Steven Spielberg’s sister’s yard in the Riverdale section of the Bronx; and marooned on the roof of a bar in Long Island City, Queens.

According to wildlife officials, "aggressive coyotes" are especially unusual, and attacks on humans are "extremely rare."

Nonetheless, the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife website includes guidelines that "can help reduce the likelihood of conflicts with coyotes":

• Never feed a coyote. Deliberately feeding coyotes puts pets and other residents in the neighborhood at risk.

• Feeding pet cats and/or feral (wild) cats outdoors can attract coyotes. The coyotes feed on the pet food and also prey upon the cats.

• Put garbage in tightly closed containers that cannot be tipped over.

• Remove sources of water, especially in dry climates.

• Bring pets in at night.

• Put away bird feeders at night to avoid attracting rodents and other coyote prey.

• Provide secure enclosures for rabbits, poultry, and other farm animals.

• Pick up fallen fruit and cover compost piles.

• Although extremely rare, coyotes have been known to attack humans. Parents should monitor their children, even in familiar surroundings, such as backyards.

• Install motion-sensitive lighting around the house.

• Clear brush and dense weeds from around dwellings — this reduces protective cover for coyotes and makes the area less attractive to rodents and rabbits. Coyotes, as well as other predators, are attracted to areas where rodents are concentrated, like woodpiles.

• If coyotes are present, make sure they know they're not welcome. Make loud noises, blast a canned air siren, throw rocks, or spray them with a garden hose.

FOLLOW US!