2007-09-27, Baby Red Panda - 小熊猫

Farley is more than just cute, he is a fighter.

When he was born, his mother, a first time mom wasn't around to take care of him. Keepers found him just hours after birth. Cold, dirty and hungry.

"When we first got our look at Farley, we were mostly concerned about two things: his early poor nutrition, he had not been fed by the mother, and the fact that he was hypothermic or had a low body temperature."

Although nursery keepers here had never hand raised a red panda before, it didn't take long to settle on a successful formula. That's enough, that's enough, hold on." It's a little challenging, uh...still a little nerve-racking, but he is doing well, we're very pleased with his progress so far, everything seems to be doing well, and we are just keeping our fingers crossed."

But Farley's problems weren't over just yet. At only three weeks, his once voracious¹ appetite began to shrink and his breathing became heavy. Keepers rushed him to the zoo's hospital." He had a very advanced and very severe infection going on inside of his body. And that he was indeed struggling for life." For a while, it was touch-and-go. The massive² infection required weeks of heavy antibiotics³ and regular tube feedings. Soon, Farley was well enough to move back to his home at the nursery and ready to take the next step.

The stage right now is just to try to get him to be a better climber. He is doing well, really well exploring." What he needed next in life was at the Rosamond Gifford zoo, in Syracuse, New York, another hand-raised red panda, named Banchi. "It's very important for red pandas as youngsters⁴ to have playmates, um, so that they don't bond so completely with human beings. As you could see, they are really really active and they really like each other's company, and they like to play and sleep together now."

"I think that the essential thing about Farley that sets him apart is his struggle was very difficult, he never lost his will to survive and the personality that emerged⁵ from those struggles was one that was surprisingly affectionate and playful and he was just a great guy."

1 voracious   

adj.狼吞虎咽的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• She's a voracious reader of all kinds of love stories.什么样的爱情故事她都百看不厌。
• Joseph Smith was a voracious book collector.约瑟夫·史密斯是个如饥似渴的藏书家。

2 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

3 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

4 youngsters   

n.孩子( youngster的名词复数 )；少年；青年；年轻人

参考例句：

• We followed the youngsters at a more sedate pace. 我们跟在年轻人后面，步子稍慢一点。
• The camp is for youngsters aged 8 to 14. 这次夏令营是为8至14岁的少年儿童安排的。

5 emerged   

vi. 浮现, (由某种状态)脱出, (事实)显现出来

参考例句：

• They emerged from the church into the bright daylight. 他们走出教堂来到明亮的日光下。
• The swimmer emerged from the lake. 游泳者从湖水中浮出来。