How many pandas are at the Smithsonian National Zoo?
The Smithsonian's National Zoo's two adult giant pandas, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, arrived on December 6, 2000. Ever since the Zoo received Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling from China in 1972 as part of President Nixon's historic visit, scientists here have been leaders in the field of giant panda biology and conservation.
What is the Smithsonian doing to help save the giant panda?
The Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is a leader in giant panda conservation. Ever since these charismatic bears arrived at the Zoo in 1972, animal care staff and scientists have studied giant panda biology, behavior, breeding, reproduction and disease.
What zoo breeds giant pandas?
The Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is a world leader at breeding giant pandas. The Zoo's giant pandas are part of a breeding program that carefully matches potential giant panda parents in order to keep the population genetically healthy well into the future.
What's happening to the National Zoo's giant pandas?
All good things must come to end, including the best thing of all: pandas. The Smithsonian's National Zoo announced Monday that its two adult giant pandas, female Mei Xiang and male Tian Tian, will move back to China at the end of 2023.
Can you see the pandas at Smithsonian Zoo?
Welcome to the Smithsonian's National Zoo's Panda Cams, where you can watch giant pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji.
Where are the pandas in the Smithsonian Zoo?
Asia Trail is home to the Smithsonian's National Zoo's most famous residents: giant pandas Tian Tian (adult male), Mei Xiang (adult female) and their new cub.
How long will the pandas be at the Smithsonian Zoo?
The Zoo has renewed its Giant Panda Cooperative Research and Breeding Agreement with the China Wildlife Conservation Association three times since 2000. The current research agreement extension was signed Dec. 7, 2020 and stipulates giant pandas may live at the Zoo into December of 2023.
What Zoo in the US has pandas?
The National Zoo is one of only three zoos in the U.S. with giant pandas. The other two are Zoo Atlanta and the Memphis Zoo.
What zoos in America have 2022 pandas?
3 US Zoos With PandasSmithsonian's National Zoo (Washington, DC)Zoo Atlanta (Atlanta, Georgia)Memphis Zoo (Memphis, Tennessee)
When can you see pandas in DC?
“Giant pandas tend to be most active early in the morning, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and in the early afternoon, from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.” Is there a fun or interesting vantage point for seeing the pandas that visitors often overlook?
Does Washington DC still have pandas?
The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is marking 50 years since the start of its giant panda conservation program. On April 16, 1972, giant pandas Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing arrived at the National Zoo as a gift from China. In the decades since, Washingtonians have delighted in watching the zoo's panda family grow.
Why is China taking pandas back?
So why does China want two aging giant pandas back? Monfort said he thinks the Chinese believe they can best take care of older pandas. “They have many, many more pandas” and more experience, he said. Also, he said Chinese experts feel they have an obligation to care for their giant pandas in their declining years.
Where can I hold a baby panda in the US?
You can also call ahead to reserve a slot to cuddle a baby panda.The National Zoo, Washington D.C.Dujiangyan Panda Base, Dujiangyan, China.Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia.Toronto Zoo, Toronto, Canada.
Why is the San Diego Zoo getting rid of pandas?
It's the end of an era at the San Diego Zoo as the last two giant pandas will soon leave for China. In an announcement Monday, zoo officials said the pandas, Bai Yun, 27 — a fixture at the zoo for 23 years — and her son, Xiao Liwu, 6, would leave San Diego because a multiyear agreement with the Chinese had ended.
Are there any pandas left in the United States?
Giant pandas currently live at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.; Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia; the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California; and the Memphis Zoo in Memphis, Tennessee. These zoos participate in the Giant Panda Species Survival Plan, overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Do any zoos in the US have red pandas?
Zoo Knoxville is proud to be the Red Panda Capital of the World. With more than 110 births, More red pandas have been born here than at any other zoo in the world.
Where is Ling-Ling the panda?
Despite the treatments, Ling Ling died at the Ueno Zoo at approximately 2 A.M. on April 30, 2008, just one day after he was withdrawn from public exhibition. An necropsy found that he had died of heart failure. He was 22 years, seven months, and 5 days old, which is roughly equivalent to 70 years old for a human.
Where are the red pandas at the National Zoo?
Two female red pandas, named Asa and Chris Anne, live on Asia Trail. Asa was born at Smithsonian's Conservation Biology Institute in 2014. She is the larger of the two red pandas, with dark red tear-marks on her face and uniform red fur along her sides.
Where can I hold a baby panda in the US?
You can also call ahead to reserve a slot to cuddle a baby panda.The National Zoo, Washington D.C.Dujiangyan Panda Base, Dujiangyan, China.Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia.Toronto Zoo, Toronto, Canada.
Why did San Diego Zoo lose its pandas?
In an announcement Monday, zoo officials said the pandas, Bai Yun, 27 — a fixture at the zoo for 23 years — and her son, Xiao Liwu, 6, would leave San Diego because a multiyear agreement with the Chinese had ended.
Appearance
Physical characteristics
- They have large, round heads and short snouts with big, pointed ears. Their faces are white with reddish-brown tear marks that extend from the eyes to the corner of the mouth. These markings could have evolved to help keep the sun out of their eyes. Their tails are marked with alternating red and buff rings. Red pandas have a soft, dense woolly und...
Behavior
- Red pandas scent-mark territories using anal glands and urine, as well as scent glands located between their footpads. These scent glands on the bottom of red pandas feet exude a colorless liquid that is odorless to humans. The red panda tests odors using the underside of its tongue, which has a cone-like structure for collecting liquid and bringing it close to a gland inside its mo…
Biology
- In contrast with other carnivores their size, red pandas have extremely robust dentition. They also have a simple carnivore stomach, despite their predominantly leaf-based diet. Red pandas share the giant pandas pseudo-thumb, a modified wrist bone used to grasp bamboo when feeding.
Taxonomy
- Red pandas are the only living member of the Ailuridae family, and their taxonomic position has long been a subject of scientific debate. They were first described as members of the raccoon family (Procyonidae)a controversial classificationin 1825, because of ecological characteristics and morphological similarities of the head, dentition and ringed tail. Later, due to some agreeme…
Description
- Adult red pandas typically weigh about 8.8 to 13.3 pounds (4 to 6.5 kilograms) and are 22 to 24.6 inches (56 to 62.5 centimeters) long, plus a tail of 14.6 to 18.6 inches (370 to 472 centimeters).
Distribution and habitat
- Red pandas range from northern Myanmar (Burma) to the west Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces of China. They are also found in suitable habitat in Nepal, India and Tibet. The Ailurus fulgens fulgens subspecies is found in Nepal, northeastern India, Bhutan and part of China, while the Ailurus fulgens styani subspecies is found in China and northern Myanmar. Red pandas live in hi…
Diet
- Bamboo constitutes 85 to 95 percent of the red panda's diet. Unlike giant pandas that feed on nearly every above-ground portion of bamboo (including the culm, or woody stem), red pandas feed selectively on the most nutritious leaf tips and, when available, tender shoots. Like giant pandas, red pandas grasp plant stems using their forepaws and shear selected leaves off with t…
Breeding
- In the Northern Hemisphere, red pandas breed from January through March. In the Southern Hemisphere, breeding season extends from June through August. The rapid change in photoperiod, or day length, after the winter solstice initiates this breeding season.
Reproduction
- Mating occurs on the ground, and gestation appears to include a period of delayed implantation, which may be as short as 93 days or as long as 156 days. Reproduction expends a great deal of energy, so it is believed that a long gestation period may be the result of a slow metabolic rate. Late spring births also coincide with the emergence of the most tender and digestible bamboo s…
Adaptations
- This adaptation allows red pandas to spend nearly as little energy as sloths, which is very beneficial considering the low nutrition content of their diet. They also exhibit temperature-regulating behaviors, such as curling into a tight ball to conserve body heat and energy expenditure in the cold. Conversely, when temperatures are warm, red pandas stretch out on bra…
Life cycle
- Red pandas may live as long as 23 years. They show symptoms of age at around 12 to 14 years old. While females do not breed after age 12, males continue to be reproductively capable.
1983
1984
1984 – 1989
- Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing produced four more cubs during this time. One cub was stillborn in 1984. Twins were born in 1987 ― one died quickly from a lack of oxygen and the other succumbed to an infection four days later. The last cub, born in 1989, died of pneumonia 23 hours after birth.
1983 – 1991
- In addition to the five pregnancies, Ling-Ling also experienced many pseudopregnancies, when giant pandas’ behavior and hormones mimic a pregnancy even if they are not pregnant.
1999
- Hsing-Hsing, suffering from several debilitating, age-related diseases, including terminal kidney disease, was euthanized Nov. 28, 1999; he was 28.
2000
- The Zoo’s second pair of giant pandas, Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) and Tian Tian (tee-YEN tee-YEN), arrived in Washington, D.C. Dec. 6. An agreement reached with the Chinese government stipulated the pair would live at the Zoo for 10 years in exchange for $10 million. Funds were raised from private donors, including Fujifilm and media partner Animal Plan...
2001
- As part of long-term capacity building, Smithsonian ecologists led the first training in the use of geographic information systems or GIS in wildlife management for 50 protected area staff at Wolong Nature Reserve in China. The Smithsonian's pioneering first attempts to cryopreserve giant panda semen showed it is resilient to cold storage at subzero temperatures. Frozen sampl…
2004
- Scientists vaginally inseminated Mei Xiang with Tian Tian’s sperm during a non-anesthesia procedure after attempts at natural breeding were unsuccessful. Mei Xiang experienced a pseudopregnancy.
2005
- Scientists and veterinarians artificially inseminated Mei Xiang March 11, after it was determined that no successful natural breeding occurred between the pandas during the previous 24 hours. Mei Xiang gave birth to the Zoo’s first surviving giant panda cub, Tai Shan, July 9, at 3:41 a.m.
2007
- Scientists and veterinarians performed two artificial inseminations on Mei Xiang April 4 and 5. The procedures used semen collected from Gao Gao, the adult male at the San Diego Zoo. The procedures were unsuccessful and Mei Xiang experienced a pseudopregnancy.