An early morning assignment at the National Zoo took News4’s Eun Yang someplace she had never been.
“This is the first time I’ve gone into the panda yard,” she said. “I’ve been behind the scenes, but this is really a thrill.”
She pulled double duty as a reporter and a panda keeper, feeding and playing with Qing Bao and Bao Li, the two 3-year-old bears who arrived in October.
Laurie Thompson, the zoo’s main panda keeper, has handled pandas for decades. She's helping Qing Bao and Bao Li get settled into their new home before their debut to the public this month.
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Bao Li has D.C. roots: He’s the offspring of D.C.-born panda Bao Bao and the grandchild of Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, who lived at the National Zoo for more than two decades. Still, it was a long process to get Bao Li and Qing Bao acclimated to their new home, Thompson said.
“You have new yards, new indoor closures, new sounds. And they're living across from elephants now. Just all the things. New bamboo,” Thompson said. “Everything that they've had to get used to, and they've done a great job.”
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Feeding the pandas
Qing Bao and Bao Li can easily spend half their day eating. Zookeepers weigh the bamboo first to keep track of the bears’ nutrition.
But placing the bamboo in the pandas’ enclosure might be more art than science. Thompson says zookeepers consider two main factors.
“One is, obviously, we want the people to be able to see them eat,” Thompson said. “So we try to put it down in a place where they will be seen, but we also kind of know where they like to eat, so we try to balance those two.”
The pandas also eat a mix of apples, carrots and panda bread, but they have to work for these treats.
Toys were one of the many novel things awaiting Qing Bao and Bao Li in the United States. The pandas get enrichment toys with snacks hidden inside, giving them a puzzle to solve.
“It's more common here to give them toys like this, so we had to introduce each toy separately so that they could try and figure out how to work them," Thompson said. “At first they just didn't know what to do, so we had to make them really easy.”
Bao Li is a ham, while Qing Bao is more reserved
After mealtime, Yang got her chance to get up close and personal with Bao Li, the male panda.
Bao Li, whose name means precious treasure in Mandarin Chinese, came right up to the grate, sitting on his behind and pawing upward while eagerly sniffing for snacks. He likes carrots, and eagerly stood up to grab one through the metal door, shoving it in his mouth with his paw.
Among his other likes? Interacting with humans.
“I think he's probably going to be quite the ham,” Thompson said.
Up close with Bao Li, Yang could see his playful personality and hear him live up to his chatty reputation as he bleated.
This time, Yang couldn’t get up close to Qing Bao, the female panda whose name translates to green treasure. She was sitting in the snow, resting on a drinker with warm water.
She’s more reserved than her companion, and a more cautious, introverted panda.
“She actually does warm up to you eventually and is very interested in interacting with us,” Thompson said. “It's just it takes a little more time with her.”
You can tell them apart because Qing Bao is smaller and has a birthmark on her left hip in the form of little brown circles.
“They’re impossibly adorable and so much fun,” Yang said later.
Zoo hopes to welcome new panda cubs
Bao Li's grandparents Tian Tian and Mei Xiang thrived in D.C. after they arrived in 2000. They had four cubs at the National Zoo before going back to China in 2023 along with their final cub, Xiao Qi Ji.
The hope is someday Bao Li and Qing Bao will carry on the giant panda legacy.
“When you work with pandas, you really get a feel for the conservation that you're helping with, and four pandas is amazing in the scheme of things, so that makes us really proud, and we're really happy to have these guys too, so we'll see what the future holds with them,” Thompson said.
How to see the pandas at the National Zoo
Many people in D.C. cannot wait to meet the pandas – and they’re finally accepting visitors!
National Zoo members can get a first look at the pandas through Jan. 19 before their public debut on Jan. 24. Zoo visitors must reserve free passes to get in.
Winter is actually a good time to see these beloved zoo residents: Furry pandas love cold air. Often, the best time to see them active outside is in the morning, when the zoo first opens.
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