Bamboo for the pandas

In June I saw a Zoo Atlanta truck outside with bamboo. So being nosey I asked what they were doing. The employee told me that they go all around Atlanta collecting bamboo from private landowners for the giant pandas.
I found this on the Zoo Atlanta website:

Donate Bamboo!

Our giant pandas, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, have vigorous appetites, dining on bamboo 10-16 hours a day. They require a variety of bamboo species and with a 220-pound-a-day consumption, a significant supply. We are always seeking donations of bamboo from private land owners.
We can only accept bamboo that has been harvested by Zoo Atlanta in order to make sure it meets our harvesting standards. To enquire about donating bamboo located on your property, please call the bamboo hotline at 404.624.5884

We went to Zoo Atlanta yesterday. Today and tomorrow (Aug. 8 & 9) are Family Free Days for City of Atlanta and Fulton County residents and employees. They are expecting about 16,000 visitors! I'm glad we went yesterday, as I think everyone was waiting for these two free days. It wasn't crowded at all for us.
If Zoo Atlanta does keep the pandas long term, I hope they are built a better habitat. The zoo in Chongqing, China has big outdoor areas for their pandas.

Watching the orangutans is one of our favorite things to do. Did you know they have the longest childhood of any other animal?

One other interesting thing we saw yesterday is that the naked mole rat had babies that morning. They live like ants in a colony, so just the queen has babies (every 82-90 days!!) and all the others are just workers. The last time she had babies, none survived because they were constantly stepped on by the adults and the queen stopped feeding them. I'm crossing my fingers for these little ones. They were so interesting to observe!!