Bright lights put National Zoo’s panda to sleep
Print Edition
IF the youngest giant panda cub at the National Zoo in Washington is stressed out about appearing in front of crowds for the first time, he isn’t showing it.
Keepers were expecting Bei Bei to squawk and squirm during an audience with a small news media contingent. Instead, under bright television lights with cameras clicking yesterday, he quickly fell asleep on an examination table, leaving a small puddle of drool on the tablecloth.
Panda biologist Laurie Thompson said that before he went in front of the cameras, Bei Bei was playing with a piece of bamboo and trying to walk. “I’m very proud of him,” Thompson said. “Obviously, he wasn’t too bothered by all the people here. This is just the beginning for him as far as people go.”
Bei Bei will make a few appearances before selected audiences ahead of his public debut on January 16, when the panda house will reopen. That’s also around the time Bei Bei will be sure enough on his feet that he’ll get to venture into the outdoor panda habitat for the first time.
Pandas are famously helpless at birth — pink, hairless, blind, and about the size of a stick of butter. Bei Bei, who was a twin — his brother did not survive — weighed just 113 grams when he was born. Now, at nearly 4 months, he’s 8 kilograms of fur, muscle, claws and teeth.
He’s one of four pandas at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, along with his mother Mei Xiang, his father Tian Tian, and his 2-year-old sister Bao Bao. The pandas belong to China, and after they turn 4, Bao Bao and then Bei Bei will return to China and join the breeding program there.
Throughout his nearly 30-minute appearance before reporters and photographers, keepers and veterinarians stroked Bei Bei’s thick, bristly fur, and he protested only when they tried to open his mouth to count his teeth.
The hands-on approach the zoo takes with Bei Bei is different from the way most animals are treated. It’s not just because he’s cute. Because his ability to reproduce is critically important to the survival of his species, Bei Bei will have to interact with humans frequently.
“He’s in for a life that’s very hands-on, especially when he goes back to China,” said Brandie Smith, the zoo’s associate director of animal care sciences. “Our goal is to make him very comfortable in this kind of situation.”
For zoo staff, the tension that accompanied Bei Bei’s first weeks have been replaced by the joy of watching him grow.
“We have such an incredible opportunity to observe these beautiful endangered species as they grow and develop,” Thompson said. “Every day is a treasure.”
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