Giant panda pair to debut in DC zoo

The Manila Times

Giant panda pair to debut in DC zoo  The public will soon be able to view giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao for the first time since the pair arrived in Washington D.C.'s Smithsonian's National Zoo in October.  Both bears have recently spent time eagerly snacking in their snow-blanketed exhibits in a sign that they have been adjusting well to weather in the US capital.  "They're both eating well. They're both adapting to the environment and they're doing really, really well," said James Steeil, a supervisory veterinary medical officer at the zoo.  China Global Television Network (CGTN) / REUTERS VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net     Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein   #TheManilaTimes #WorldNews #Panda

Transcript

00:00They're both eating well, they're both adapting to the environment, and they're doing really,

00:27really well.

00:32We have very close collaborations, partnerships with universities, with protected areas, with

00:39research centers and zoos in China that we've been building since the 70s.

00:46Yeah, they're definitely very different pandas.

00:51So you have Baoli, who is just very outgoing, very interested in what the keepers are doing,

00:57always wanting attention from the keepers.

01:00And then you have Qingbao, who's more independent, a little more shy, but still does interact

01:05with us a lot.

01:06I think it could be just a male-female thing, but we're definitely getting to know them

01:09a little better.

01:18In the wild, pandas are strictly solitary, and they only meet each other during breeding

01:22season.

01:23And their breeding season is so short, it's usually like a three-day meet.

01:27And so we adapt that here, where they can see each other and smell each other, but they

01:32don't go into the same exhibit with each other unless it was for breeding purposes.

01:45We are building a sustainable captive population in the zoo environment.

01:54So in the future, when we have a sustainable, big enough captive population, we are able

02:02to train some of the giant pandas to be reintroduced in the wild.

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