Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing

(Wikipedia) - Ling-Ling (1969 - December 30th, 1992) and Hsing-Hsing (1970 - 99) were two Giant Pandas given to the United States as gifts by the government of China following President Richard Nixon's visit in 1972. In return, the U.S. government sent China a pair of musk oxen.
They arrived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., on April 16, 1972, at a ceremony attended by First Lady Pat Nixon. While at the zoo, they attracted millions of visitors each year. Continued

Photo: Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, Smithsonian.

Lazy American Panda Shapes Up in China

(Slate) When Tai Shan, the Washington-born panda formerly known to the Internet as "Butterstick," was repatriated to China this past winter, the National Zoo called his departure "bittersweet" and said that he was a "true ambassador for the giant panda species." According to a report from the Xinhua News Agency, his new keepers at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas, in Sichuan, were not as impressed by him as a representative of his kind: Continued

Video: Giant Panda Tai Shan Heads to China

(National Zoo) Tai Shan officially began his journey to China early this morning, leaving the Zoo at 9:04 a.m. The four-and-a-half-year-old panda is on his way to Dulles International Airport, where he will board a FedEx 777 plane bound for Chengdu. The non-stop flight will take about 14 hours. Over the years, Tai Shan has become a celebrity in Washington, and will now take on a new role in China as part of a panda breeding program at Wolong’s Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya’an, Sichuan.
Since his birth July 9, 2005, Tai Shan, whose name means “peaceful mountain,” has attracted millions of visitors worldwide to the National Zoo and to the Zoo’s panda cams. The Zoo successfully negotiated two extensions with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, which allowed the Zoo to keep Tai Shan for two and a half years beyond the original two-year contract. Continued

Photo: National Zoo

National Zoo panda Tai Shan to fly to China on custom plane

(Washington Post) Talk about service -- a huge new airplane with your own logo on the side, only eight people on board, including your doctor, a member of the opposite sex right beside you and more than 50 pounds of your favorite food available "on demand." Continued

Photo: Smithsonian

Panda does perfect tumblesault - in his sleep

(Daily Mail) The animal, called Tai Shan, was sitting in his zoo enclosure when he began to doze off, his eyes flickering open and shut before he succumbed to sleep and slumped forward.
The sleepy panda could have fallen flat on his face. But instead he popped his head between his legs and turned head-over-heels before landing on his back. Continued

Panda Tai Shan returning to China

(National Zoo) Tai Shan will be sent to the People’s Republic of China in early 2010, as stipulated in the agreement between the Zoo and the Chinese government. The exact date of his departure has not been determined due to the lengthy process of finalizing permits and preparing Tai Shan for the trip.
Under the agreement, giant panda cubs born at the National Zoo belong to China and are to be sent to the Wolong's Beifengxia Base in Ya'an, Sichuan sometime after the cub turns two. In April 2007, shortly before his second birthday, China granted the National Zoo a two-year extension for Tai Shan to remain in Washington, D.C.; that extension expired in July but the Zoo was provided a second extension to January 2010. Continued

Photo: Giant Panda, Mei Xiang, plays with son, 7 month old Tai Shan, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2006, at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, DC. Tai Shan was born on July 9, 2005, and weighs over 33lbs. White House photo by Shealah Craighead. (Via Wikipedia)

Enter the Fujifilm Panda Photo Sharing Sweepstakes

The National Zoo and Fujifilm invite you to submit your favorite panda photos for an opportunity to win a fantastic prize, such as a camera or photo book, provided by Fujifilm.
Every other month, beginning in February, up to 25 of the photos received will be selected at random and posted on the Zoo’s website. If your photo is selected and posted on the site, you will automatically be entered into a sweepstakes drawing. Six winners will be drawn throughout the year on a bimonthly basis; the first winner will be drawn on February 27. Winners will be notified via email and also announced on our website. Continued

Sing Ho! for the life of a bear.

Canon EOS 20D

National Zoo Pleads For Bamboo As Supply Dwindles

(WJZ/AP) - The National Zoo is running critically low on bamboo to feed its animals and is asking local farmers for help. The zoo harvests about 75,000 pounds of bamboo each year for its giant pandas, red pandas, Asian elephants, gorillas and other animals.
The bamboo is grown at the zoo and several other locations in the region. But this year, officials say the bamboo stands are having trouble regrowing. Continued

Photo: Kim Choate

Ling-Ling

(Wikipedia) - Ling-Ling (1969 - December 30th, 1992) and Hsing-Hsing (1970 - 99) were two Giant Pandas given to the United States as gifts by the government of China following President Richard Nixon's visit in 1972. In return, the U.S. government sent China a pair of musk oxen.
They arrived at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., on April 16, 1972, at a ceremony attended by First Lady Pat Nixon. While at the zoo, they attracted millions of visitors each year. Continued

Photo: Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, Smithsonian.

Panda play

This isn't really history, but we noticed that the two adult pandas at the National Zoo, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, have been left to play in the same enclosure today. Often they are kept separated, like when the female (Mei Xiang) is expecting or raising a cub, but today (and I'm guessing the next several months), the two will have the occasional playtime.
They really seem to enjoy themselves. They play a sort of wrestle tag and take turns being "it." Link to the PandaCams.

Photo: Jessie Cohen, National Zoo

Now at the National Zoo: The Manda

Tian Tian, the adult male panda at the National Zoo in D.C., was reunited with his mate/buddy Mei Xiang for a short visit the other day. They had to do something as Tian Tian has been suffering from "stereotypical behavior" recently. In other words he's bored and it's making him neurotic.
And speaking of stereotyping, does it sometimes seem like the zoo staff likes to project their frustrations with men in general on poor Tian? He's a deadbeat dad, all he does is lay around and eat, he didn't take a Lamaze class. What's a poor bear to do? Even worse, it may turn out that pandas, at least some of them, aren't "solitary creatures" at all. A recent report from China tells how scientists have found whole panda communities living in large groups centered around caves in the mountains. This may apply doubly to Tian Tian who was raised at the communal panda breeding center at Woolong. So the next time you're at the National Zoo, send some happy thoughts towards Tiany - a solitary and perhaps, lonely creature.

Photo of Tian Tian by Kim Choate ©2006 Screenshot of "Homer Sim-Sim" property of the Fox Network

Sing Ho! for the life of a Bear!

Tai Shan, the National Zoo's panda cub, turns one year old today. This is what he looked like when we paid him a visit last winter: a panda in a bowl. These days he's much larger and spends most of his time napping in the trees, or bugging his mom. Like many households the world over, we watch him on the panda cam, and have grown fond of the little guy. We like watching his parents too.