A panda cam recording shows that as early as 2007, YaYa and LeLe had already developed stereotypical behavior due to the limited quantity and type of food given to them by Memphis Zoo.
It is hard to believe that AZA puts animal welfare as one of its three core principles as the development of these pandas' abnormal behaviors and their mental health deterioration at MemphisZoo was left untreated for decades. Todate neither the zoo nor AZA has taken action to address these poor pandas' unsatisfied food demands to reduce their mental stress.
The zoo likes to use 1-2 minute clips of the pandas' “happy” eating to make it look like all is well or use behind the scenes’ shooting to "explain" the keeper team's care for the pandas, all narrated by the zoo staff without displaying a full picture of the animals' state and daily behaviors.
Based on our Panda Cam Research since December 2020, the pandas are frequently begging for food and exhibiting abnormal behaviors such as repetitive pacing, head-bobbing, tongue-playing, and roaring. This takes up over half of the daytime. There is minimum effective enrichment and foraging time; less than one-fourth, meaning if you check the live stream cam four times, there might only be one time that you see LeLe eating and not begging for food.
Even worse, the pandas seem deprived of food in the last two hours before closing. Therefore, if you turn on the Cam between 4-6 pm Memphis time, you will likely see LeLe's food begging and sufferings last for 1-2 hours.
NO RESEARCH, NO RIGHT TO SPEAK. Monitoring the pandas via the panda cam gives us a clearer picture of the pandas' daily diets and behaviors. Thus, it can help identify the issues more scientifically and convince the zoo to take positive action.
Therefore, we'd like to invite you to watch the panda cam at https://www.memphiszoo.org/panda-cam at your convenience and share with us what's happening by filling out this simple form https://forms.gle/yLsjk1QRPzFGiq9t5.
We believe that the more evidence there is, the harder it is for the zoo to hide behind its false narrative of the pandas’ well-being. As being present in Memphis Zoo physically is a challenge for most of us, we can support YaYa and LeLe remotely this way!
Thanks for helping YaYa and LeLe by watching Memphis Zoo's Panda Cam! If you have any suggestions or questions, don't hesitate to contact us!