As the year winds down, we’re reflecting on some of our biggest conservation success stories of 2019.
Panda Conservation Giant panda fans far and wide said a bittersweet goodbye to Bei
Beginning today, June 24, the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat will be closed to keep a quiet area around female giant panda Mei Xiang’s den.
Please note that although Bei Bei and Tian Tian will have access to be outside until
Giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji may have found a new favorite pastime. While keepers were cleaning the outdoor patio Sept. 16, our curious cub jumped in the hose spray and had a splashing good time!
Xiao Qi Ji interacts with the hose spray is similar to the way his older brother, Bei
„When I was in my mid-twenties and living in Mount Pleasant, I loved taking long runs to and then through the National Zoo…“
We walked to and through the zoo and watched Bei Bei the panda rolling around in
On April 16, the giant panda team will celebrate an enormous milestone—the 50th anniversary of our giant panda program! For giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji, another important milestone is approaching: weaning.
experienced mother, having cared for Tai Shan (b. 2005), Bao Bao (b. 2013) and Bei
This week, we saw the sassy side of our almost 4-month-old giant panda cub, Xiao Qi JI, as he let out a loud and feisty bark!
displeasure with this noise, but neither did his older siblings Tai Shan, Bao Bao and Bei
„The last three panda babies are synonymous with my motherhood journey and my love affair with the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. I had my first baby in 2008; we started going to the Zoo regularly when Lucas was an infant…“
We wept when she left but were overjoyed to welcome Bei Bei and then Xiao Qi Ji.
Scientists, veterinarians and keepers have been monitoring Mei Xiang closely for the past several months to determine if she is pregnant or experiencing a pseudopregnancy.
Visitors will still be able to see Bei Bei and Tian Tian outside in their yards.
As the John and Adrienne Mars director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, Brandie Smith oversees the 163-acre Zoo facility in Washington, D.C.’s Rock Creek Park and the 3,200-acre Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute campus in Front Royal, Virginia. She is responsible for the operations of the public Zoo in Washington, D.C., which has approximately 1.8 million visitors a year, and manages the Zoo’s groundbreaking conservation biology research team that works in more than 30 countries.
disciplines have contributed to the birth of three surviving cubs, Bao Bao in 2013, Bei
The panda team is still waiting to find out if Mei Xiang will give birth or if she is experiencing a pseudopregnancy. Giant pandas’ hormones and behavior mimic a pregnancy even if they are experiencing a pseudopregnancy.
Bei Bei has been spending the majority of his time outside lately and is also enjoying
