JUNIOR IS ONE MONTH OLD TODAY! - Dec 23, 2007

Junior completes his first month on planet earth- today is his one month birthday!

This month has been without major glitches, except the severe constipation which made me decide to send him to Eddie’s sanctuary temporarily to receive better routine and vet care in case of more urgent need.

He now weighs four kilos and measures 70cm long. He can see well even though his eyes are still blue from the film. Yesterday a little tooth showed up on his upper gum and today yet another one! So he is happily chewing up blankets and tearing apart towels, honing his biting skills! Soon he will be able to eat meat which would give him better nutrition.

It is a hot day and he was taken out of the room for the first time to crawl on the grass lawn and he absolutely loved it! This patch of lawn is separated from other enclosures in Eddie’s sanctuary since the cub is not yet allowed to come into contact with other animals due to the fact that he has not been vaccinated against possible diseases carried by others. He does not yet have any resistance at this stage.

Junior will be given his first dead vaccines between 8 to 10 weeks, and second around dead of vaccines around 12 weeks and live vaccines around 16 weeks. After all these three vaccines he will be allowed to come into contacts with other animals and we will receive him back at Laohu Valley, where he can meet his parents and receive rewilding training. However, vaccination also contains high risks and I must say I am very worried as to how he will react to the vaccines. There are cases that animals die from vaccines if their bodies are not strong enough to combat the viruses contained in the vaccines…

I will have to sleep with my worries until then.