National Zoo on panda pregnancy alert
WASHINGTON, May 4 (UPI) -- Behavioral changes exhibited by the Washington National Zoo's giant female panda have put zoologists on pregnancy alert, officials said.
Detecting changes in her actions and hormones, zoo officials are cautiously optimistic Mei Xiang might be pregnant. However, they warn it may be another in a series of false pregnancies for the panda, The Washington Post reported.
National Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson told the newspaper Mei Xiang is "denning," meaning she is transporting bamboo to a dark and quiet place, is eating less and is cradling her food and other objects.
"Any (other) time I've seen Mei with a pear, she's eating it," Baker-Masson told the Post, which said Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated in January after it was determined she was in heat. Officials said she was being monitored day and night.
Zoo panda gets a colonoscopy
WASHINGTON, May 4 (UPI) -- Giving a panda at the National Zoo in Washington a colonoscopy was a complicated procedure involving 10 employees, zoo officials said.
Tai Shan, born at the zoo almost four years ago, needed the colonoscopy to determine whether he had recovered from eosinophilic colitis, which he developed last year, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
The panda had to fast for a day before the procedure Friday. But he did not need to prepare by drinking quantities of liquid to clear his colon, as humans ordinarily do.
At 7:30 a.m., Tai Shan was given an anesthetic and then moved from the Panda House to the zoo hospital. In addition to the colonoscopy, he got X-rays and blood was withdrawn for testing.
"As an endangered species, it's important we learn as much as possible at the same time," said Suzan Murray, the head veterinarian at the zoo.
The good news is that Tai Shan appears to have made a complete recovery, said Carlos Sanchez, the vet who performed the colonoscopy. The zoo is waiting for biopsy results to confirm that.
Portable toilets help pilot survive crash
TACOMA, Wash., May 4 (UPI) -- A pilot walked away from a crash landing in Washington state when a field full of portable toilets cushioned the impact on the ground for his small plane.
The 67-year-old pilot, whose name was not reported, had just taken off from Pierce County-Thun Field at 3:20 p.m. PDT Friday when his engine stopped, The Tacoma News-Tribune reported Saturday. He was alone in the 1982 Cessna.
"The plane took off, he got about 150 feet in the air and his engine quit running," Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, said. "He tried to turn around and come back and land, but he didn't quite make it."
The plane hit a fence and landed upside down in the field next to the runway where Northwest Cascade had stored the portable toilets.
"The Honey Buckets kind of cushioned things," a Northwest Cascade worker who did not want to be named told the News-Tribune.
Retiree mistakenly listed as dead
BALLARAT, Australia, May 4 (UPI) -- An Australian man said a hospital error after his recent illness led authorities to list him as dead and cancel his pension payments.
Clive Norton, 71, of Ballarat, said workers with Centrelink, the Commonwealth Service Delivery Agency, told him they had no pension check for him because records indicated he had died April 8, the Melbourne Herald Sun reported Friday.
Norton said he was later told the error resulted from Ballarat Health Services Base Hospital mistakenly informing Centrelink of his demise after his recent three-day hospitalization for pneumonia. He said Centrelink even sent his wife a check for funeral costs.
"I can't believe the hospital made a mistake like that," Norton said.
Andrew Rowe, chief executive of Ballarat Health Services, said he met with Norton to apologize in person.
"Ballarat Health Services has expressed its deepest regret to Mr. Norton," he said. "We have undertaken a review of the reporting system and implemented all necessary changes to ensure this does not occur again."
