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After feeding Yuan Zai some milk this early morning
the Taipei Zoo keepers are moving Yuan Zai to her mother¡¦s den for the first time
Everyone is anxious
No one can anticipate how the mother panda, Yuan Yuan, will react to reuniting with Yuan Zai
Our keeper places Yuan Zai in front of Yuan Yuan¡¦s den first
For Yuan Yuan to see Yuan Zai and familiarize herself with her scent
Then we have Yuan Yuan wait outside the delivery room for a bit
She seems to understand what¡¦s about the happen
and is restless
At the other gate to the delivery room
our keeper carefully picks Yuan Zai up
and brings her inside the room
Yuan Yuan keeps pacing by the door as soon as she sees Yuan Zai
Once the staff finishes all the preparation work
we open the gate
Everyone is nervously watching the interaction between Yuan Yuan and Yuan Zai
Yuan Yuan walks over to Yuan Zai¡¦s side instantly
She makes a few tries to pick Yuan Zai up, then holds her closely
At first Yuan Zai finds the new bed uncomfortable
and keeps vocalizing
Yuan Yuan looks like someone who¡¦s taking care of a friend¡¦s baby
facing a fussy and crying baby
is uncertain what to do
She tries to hold Yuan Zai closely first
Then she tries sitting or lying down to see if Yuan Zai will stop crying
After repeated attempts
she finally finds the perfect cuddling position
Yuan Zai also starts nursing contentedly
After a while everyone is worn out
Yuan Zai is tired by now and stops crying
Yuan Yuan is also exhausted from comforting and feeding her baby
and fell asleep next to Yuan Zai
Every staff is relieved
and can¡¦t help but smile at this scene
Mother panda, baby panda, and all keepers are all spent
To help Yuan Yuan conserve energy
and to give her and Yuan Zai some time to adapt
we will not leave Yuan Zai with Yuan Yuan right away
but we will make sure they spend time together every day
To retrieve Yuan Zai from Yuan Yuan, we use honey to distract her
We are getting ready to take Yuan Zai
At first Yuan Yuan is not tempted
Eventually she cannot resist her beloved honey
and moves her bottom
so we can successfully retrieve Yuan Zai
Yuan Zai falls sound asleep immediately in the incubator
Today marks the first major milestone in Yuan Yuan and Yuan Zai¡¦s reunion