Xiao Liwu’s 18th Exam

/ post by San Diego Zoo via Pandas International

At Xiao Liwu’s 18th exam, to up the cute factor, he was given two balls, bamboo, and a limb trimmed from a tree. He’d seen the limb before, and the bamboo, but that ball…that is what kept his attention during the whole exam. He pulled it close, wrapped all his paws around it, and sat with it. It was his, and he wasn’t giving it up. Well, until he tried to climb over it or move with it, and then it would pop out of his paws and roll away. Keepers would roll it back to him and this “game” kept him engaged during almost the entire exam.

Jennifer Parsons, a nutritionist taking his measurements, had to slide her tape measure between the ball and his chin to measure his neck girth. And again, between the ball and his tummy to measure the girth of his abdomen. And while he was wrapped, content, around that ball, she was able to take measurements around his face without his usual protests. He weighed 14.5 pounds (6.6 kilograms) and is 29 inches long (74 centimeters) from nose to tail.

The exam went very quickly today because the cub was focused on his ball. Vets were able to check him over and everything looked in tip-top shape.

Watch a video of the exam.