Employed by the CCRCGP since 2000, Dong Li or Mr. Dong as we call him, is the lead keeper at the Bifengxia breeding center. His knowledge of the bears behaviors and how to best pair males and females together is second-to-none. He is an invaluable resource for PDXWildlife given that he is our primary keeper contact in setting up the Male-Male competition.

Dong Li and Nathan

One of my favorite days to work at Bifengxia is on Sunday, because Mr. Dong, along with his wife (also employed at Bifengxia), bring their son to work. He’s a little bit older than Dee (my daughter), but we somehow always seem to walk around the base together making action videos with my iPhone. I also know that it helps to give Mr. and Mrs. Dong a break.

Dong Li’s favorite panda is Lu Lu (#503), who was wild caught on Oct. 24th, 1999. Maybe it’s his favorite bear because they have both been with the CCRCGP for the same amount of time. Lu Lu, in the past years, has been a very prolific breeder. However, his top title looks to be in jeopardy as he has “struck out” several times. The breeding season is young though.

We hope Mr. Dong understands how important he is to our future studies here at Bifengxia. The random candies and red bulls that I give as gifts for helping us really don’t scratch the surface of our gratitude.

Lu Lu busy feeding