News Archive

The shutdown didn’t shutdown giant panda playtime! During the past three-and-a-half weeks Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Bei Bei have carried on with their daily routines.

If you plant it, they will come. A collaborative research team including scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Guanyinshan Nature Reserve and Tsinghua University has established four bamboo restoration plots with the ambitious goal of accelerating the return of pandas to...

The New Year will bring in some new changes to the panda house. Beginning Dec. 5, the panda house at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat may occasionally close during weekday mornings to allow for the installation of a brand new exhibit!

Three-year-old giant panda played and tumbled in the snow Thursday, Nov. 15.

Carve your Halloween pumpkin to look like giant panda Bei Bei today with this downloadable stencil!

Giant panda Bei Bei celebrated his third birthday Aug. 22 with a special ice cake.

Bei Bei turned 3 years old today! In celebration of his big day, Bei Bei enjoyed an ice-cake, participated in an enrichment painting session and received a new panda-friendly enrichment toy.

A team of reproductive scientists, veterinarians and animal keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute have determined that giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) will not give birth this year.

The exhibits team built the hammocks from sturdy firehose and installed them. There has been a hammock in Bei Bei’s enclosure for several years, but it was starting to show some wear-and-tear as it’s been a favorite resting spot for him and Bao Bao when she lived there.

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.

The panda team has started seeing more pronounced behavioral changes in Mei Xiang, which is normal and expected for a pregnant or pseudopregnant giant panda. Overall, she is spending more time sleeping and is less responsive to the keepers.

In honor of the Washington, D.C. Capitals making the NHL finals, the Smithsonian's National Zoo's giant panda Tian Tian was given a special treat of a bamboo hockey stick, ice puck and a fruitsicle star!

It’s been almost three months since Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated. Keepers, veterinarians and Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists have been monitoring her carefully ever since.

The beginning of March was a whirlwind at the Giant Panda Habitat. Mei Xiang finally went into peak estrus March 1 after the panda team had been monitoring her and Tian Tian 24-hours-a-day for nearly a week. There is always a lot of activity around the panda house when Mei Xiang is approaching peak...

A team of reproductive scientists, veterinarians and panda keepers at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute performed an artificial insemination on giant panda Mei Xiang.

Keepers have noticed some dramatic changes in Mei Xiang and Tian Tian’s behavior during the past several days. On Saturday, Feb. 17, Mei Xiang started showing behavioral changes that indicate she may be going into estrus within the next few weeks.

Giant panda Bei Bei celebrated the Lunar New Year with some special Year of the Dog enrichment!

As the days get shorter and the weather gets cooler, the pandas are spending more time in their yards. Panda keepers sometimes get asked by the visitors why we place the bamboo and enrichment items in the places that we do when we set up the yards.

Bei Bei started showing signs of abdominal discomfort overnight Saturday, Nov. 25. As a result, the panda team began monitoring him closely. He passed a mucous stool on Sunday, Nov. 26, and began eating and defecating normally again. As of Wednesday, Nov. 29, Bei Bei is bright, alert and fully...

Tian Tian had a preventative health exam yesterday. He was taken to the veterinary hospital, which allowed our veterinarians to get an up-close and in-depth look at him while he was under anesthesia.

The giant panda team at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute has determined that Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) will not give birth this year.

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.

The panda house is closed to the public beginning today, Sept. 1 to provide quiet for Mei Xiang as she enters the final stages of a pregnancy or pseudopregnancy.

Mei Xiang has started exhibiting more behaviors consistent with the secondary hormone phase of a pregnancy or a pseudopregnancy. That means that she has been spending the majority of her time sleeping. Simultaneously, she is starting to build a nest in her den and to eat less. Keepers have also seen...

Giant panda Bei Bei celebrated his second birthday Aug. 22, with a panda friendly cake made by the Smithsonian's National Zoo's department of nutrition.