Jeroen Jacobs announced the results of the Giant Panda Zoo Awards 2013, in a ceremony held at the Zoo Atlanta on Friday, January 17. There were 10 categories for the voting including; Favorite Cub of the year, the Human of the year, Panda Moment of the Year and Favorite Panda Charity.
Mei Lun & Mei Huan of the Atlanta Zoo won for cubs of the year, since they are the first surviving twin cubs born in the US. The Human of the year was shared between Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer and Dr. David Kersey for the artificial insemination of the cubs. Panda Moment of the Year was the reintroduction of Zhang Xiang into the wild.
Pandas International won Favorite Panda Charity for the second year in a row. Suzanne Braden, Director of Pandas International, said “the organization is extremely honored to win this award again. We would like to thank everyone who voted for Pandas International to achieve this recognition of our work.”