Tag Archives: Smithsonian National Zoo

Zoo Animals in the Snow

At the national zoo the animals are enjoying the snow!

Where the human lives the snow has taken over for the time being, and staying home is the best remedy for the cold and dangerous roads. Take a look at these animals having more fun than my human is!

Pandas Mei Xiang and 16 month old cub Bao Bao:
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(Devin Murphy/Smithsonian National Zoo)
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(Devin Murphy/Smithsonian National Zoo)

Bao Bao enjoying the trees:
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(Devin Murphy/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)

African Lions
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(Amy Enchelmeyer/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)

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(Amy Enchelmeyer/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)

I would not have expected Afrcan Lions to appreciate snow! But I suppose they would get used to it living at the National Zoo where it is a fact of life in the winter.

The regal beauty of Sumatran Tiger Sukacita enjoying a walk in the snow:
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(Amy Enchelmeyer/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)

Rona the Grey Seal with a face full of snow:
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(Chelsea Grubb/Smithsonian’s National Zoo)

Hope you are all enjoying sunshine, staying warm, or are having this much winter fun!

-Fizz

See more photos at CBS Washington DC.

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The Panda Cub is a Girl!

The National Zoo’s recent panda cub born in August has been confirmed female by a DNA test.

Mei Xiang is a good panda mother who still spends a lot of time in her den. As the cub gets a bit older she will start to leave more. So zoo staff are still mostly observing the cub, and will do more when they can.

Here are some great moments from the panda cam all put together:

Panda cub:
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(spiderxcat)

You can see more screen captures of the cub from the panda cam on flicker.

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Giant Panda Cub

The National Zoo’s new panda cub is doing well so far! At the cub’s first health exam the staff got a picture:

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(Source: National Zoo)

The cub is not much to see at the moment because Panda cubs are the one of the smallest births to occur among mammals. Babies are only about 1/900th the size of their mothers, only marsupials give birth to smaller young.  Panda cubs are unable to move on their own and are completely dependent on their mom for warmth, food, and protection.

Mei Xiang has been more protective of the cub in the past few days and has not allowed the vet staff to take the cub from her for an exam. Keepers say the baby sounds healthy and they are continually observing the pair on the panda cams.

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A Panda Cub is Born!

The Smithsonian National Zoo announced earlier today that their female panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub at 5:32 pm!

You can watch the Panda cam on the national zoo’s website here.

Mei Xiang, a Giant Panda is seen during
(photo of Mei Xiang: KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)

Behavior watchers were observing her 24 hours a day via their panda cams since August 7 as she began to exhibit more and more signs that she would be giving birth. The cub will receive a preliminary exam in the next 48 hours, and continue to receive regular health checks.  This is the panda’s third cub, her first cub survived and now lives in china while her second cub died of liver failure.

You can read more about all that goes into testing for panda pregnancy, how she got that way, and the video of her giving birth at the panda blog.

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Giant Panda Cams are Back!

The giant panda cams at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo went down for maintenance but are now back in full HD, with uninterrupted video! You can currently watch on their website at AnimalCams on your computer, tablet, or phone.

The female panda Mei Xiang might be pregnant, but since cubs are born so small it is impossible to tell on ultrasound until the final weeks of gestation – you can follow cub updates on twitter at #CubWatch.

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(source: Panda Updates)

You can see the video of Mei’s latest ultrasound, which she voluntarily participates in when she wants (she gets treats for it of course). Even though it is too early to see if she is having a cub the training involved in making such a medical procedure happen is quite interesting:

Again, you can watch all the adorable panda action on the Smithsonian’s website at AnimalCams.

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Red Panda Missing at National Zoo

Do you live anywhere near the Smithsonian National Zoo, or are visiting today? Could you help the zoo by keeping  an eye out for their missing red panda?

This morning the zoo could not find its new male Red Panda named Rusty. He is less than a year old and about the size of a raccoon. Here is a picture:

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Zoo keepers went to check on him this morning but Rusty was not in his enclosure. The zoo also has a female red panda, who can be viewing in their enclosure.

He is believed to still be in the zoo hiding, but a search this morning of the zoo before opening to the public did not find the animal.

If you do see Rusty do not approach him – call an official or the zoo at 202-633-4888.

You can also follow the search on Twitter using #findrusty.

Here is the news story: Washington Post

Here is the twitter story.

I hope that Rusty is found safe and sound!

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