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Keepers at the San Diego Zoo have been having a heavy time getting panda bear sonny boy Xiao Liwu to sit around still during his even checkups . But this week they obtain that , much like a tot , the fidgety bear calms down when he has a toy to play with .
" His favorite toy today was definitely the egg . He was really enjoying hugging it and wrap on it and doing those kind of rolly , tumble things thatpanda cubsare so notoriously cute for doing , " Beth Bicknese , a senior veterinary at the zoo , read in a video statement .
The San Diego Zoo’s panda cub, Xiao Liwu, did not want to share his plastic ball during his 18th exam.
" He ’s using his mouth right now kind of like a 5th hand , " Bicknese added , describe how Xiao Liwu is using his mouth to inquire different texture , from bamboo to the hands of his keepers .
Now 20 weeks old , the lesser panda consider in at 14.5 pound ( 6.5 kilograms ) and measure 29 in ( 73 cm ) from nose to dog during his exam Tuesday ( Dec. 18 ) , zoo official said . Keepers are waiting for the cub to become a better follower and substantial mounter before they put him out in a public panda exhibit .
Captive breeding is an important mode to study and conserve the menace mintage , as just 1,600 giant pandas are thought to be left in the wild . In gain to home ground loss from human action and low-pitched reproductive charge per unit , giant pandas ' survival is alsothreatened by climate change . A subject area released in the journal Nature Climate Change last calendar month found that global warming could wipe out much of the bear ' master food reservoir , bamboo , over the next century .
