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Latest Panda News
Jan. 06, 2014
After four months of watching her grow on the panda cams, visitors to the Smithsonian's National Zoo will be able to visit Bao Bao starting January 18.
Dec. 20, 2013
Bao Bao is becoming a master at giant panda locomotion! She climbed up on the rockwork in Mei Xiang's enclosure early Wednesday morning all by herself.
Dec. 18, 2013
After four months of watching her grow on the panda cams, visitors to the Smithsonian's National Zoo will be able to visit Bao Bao starting Jan. 18.
Dec. 16, 2013
Bao Bao had a busy day Friday! She was very active and spent the entire day in one of Mei Xiang's large indoor enclosures.
Dec. 06, 2013
It's been a big week for Bao Bao! She got her name on Sunday, thanks to the more than 120,000 votes cast. She now weighs a whopping 12.76 pounds!
Dec. 01, 2013
After 100 days and 123,039 votes, the giant panda cub at the Smithsonian's National Zoo received her name today. The cub's name is: Bao Bao!
Nov. 22, 2013
Today was another weigh-in day! The cub now weighs 10.8 pounds (4.9 kilos). And keepers have noticed that she is responding to the noises she hears.
Nov. 19, 2013
The panda cub is taking small steps! Over the weekend and yesterday cam watchers may have noticed that she has been able to get her hind legs underneath her and stand up.
Nov. 15, 2013
The panda cub was weighed and measured again this morning! She now weighs 9.68 pounds (4.4 kilos). She is still very round measuring 18.11 inches (46 centimeters) around her belly.
Nov. 08, 2013
Our panda cub is growing bigger and bigger! She now weighs a hefty 8.14 pounds, and her tail is starting to shrink relative to the size of her body.
Oct. 30, 2013
This week's giant panda update was written by giant panda keeper Nicole MacCorkle.
Oct. 23, 2013
The giant panda cub at the Smithsonian's National Zoo has gained almost another pound since Friday, Oct.
Oct. 17, 2013
The gates at the Smithsonian's National Zoo will open to the public Friday, October 18! The live animal cams were turned off during the government shutdown, including the panda cams.
Sep. 30, 2013
On Saturday, Mei came out of her den in the morning looking for food as soon as keepers arrived.
Sep. 26, 2013
The panda team was able to perform another full veterinary exam on the cub today. Mei Xiang is routinely coming out of her den in the mornings to eat bamboo and drink.
Sep. 20, 2013
Our panda cub is 4 weeks old today — and what a difference a few weeks makes!
Sep. 11, 2013
Mei Xiang and her cub are still doing well! Keepers and veterinarians expect that Mei will begin leaving her den for longer periods of time soon.
Sep. 09, 2013
Mei Xiang and the cub continue to do well. Over the weekend, Mei left her den for a few minutes several times, once to get a drink of water.
Sep. 04, 2013
This morning, Mei Xiang was very alert when the panda keepers walked into her den and looked eager for her morning drink.
Sep. 03, 2013
Last night at 6:15 p.m., Mei Xiang left her den. She climbed up the rockwork mountain in her adjoining exhibit, urinated, and returned to the den at 6:18.