A panda mother at the Taipai Zoo in Japan shows that humans aren’t the only ones who have trouble with their children wandering off and avoiding bedtime. Female panda, Yuan Yuan, is the star attraction at the zoo and attracts thousands of visitors. She was given to the Japanese zoo as part of a breeding exchange. The bears have both an outside exhibit, which the public sees, as well as a “bedroom” area consisting of several rooms, hard floors and artificial lighting.
When Yuan Yuan’s young cub, Yuan Zai, wandered away, mom is quick to get her back to where she belonged. The whole situation was chronicled on video and posted online. In the video, Yuan Zai is seen wandering from room to room while the zookeepers are sweeping, cleaning up and delivering food to mom who is in another room which was out of the cub’s sight. Mom panda seemed unconcerned or didn’t notice that her baby was wandering around while she snacked on bamboo.
The cub eventually finds her way back to mom, who continues eating, but then wanders away again. After a few minutes, the cub seems to get distressed and begins to call out. Mom shows up and turns around to show the cub the way back to the “bedroom.” The cub looks at her for a moment, and then continues to wander away.
Mom, however, was not amused and is seen grabbing the cub with her paw and teeth and dragging the baby back to the other room. She is seen next sitting upright in front of her bamboo breakfast and cradling the cubs in her front paws much in the way that humans cradle their children.