Qing Bao &Bao Li Get Prepped For Million Dollar Debut at Washington Zoo

Nov 8

Nov 8 Qing Bao &Bao Li Get Prepped For Million Dollar Debut at Washington Zoo

The giant pandas Qing Bao and Bao Li arrived in Washington, DC on October 15 after their long journey from Sichuan, China. Now the National Zoo is preparing the pandas and their habitat for the big public debut on January 24, 2025.

This week the zoo described how on-site biologists are keeping close tabs on Qing Bao and Bao Li’s growth and development — by poking through stool samples, scrutinizing and recording the pandas’ behavior, and slowly introducing the animals to activities that encourage interactions with their new environment.

“We want to see the pandas eating, playing, sleeping, and exploring their exhibit,” says the zoo’s Asia Trail keeper, Mariel Lally. “We want to see parts of their personalities coming out. We want to see them feel safe and confident in their new spaces.”

Both bears are three years old, born a month apart in 2012. Pandas become sexually mature from about four years old, so you can see where this is going. The female, Qing Bao, is said to be more tentative than her (possible) mate, Bao Li. Their personalities emerged a bit when the Asia Trail team gave each bear a big pile of ice shavings, a stand-in for the snowdrifts found in the giant panda’s natural mountain habitat.

“Qing Bao didn’t care about it, but Bao Li loved it,” says Mally. “He stomped on it, rolled around in it, and pushed his ball over to it. Everything is new to him, so he’s having a lot of fun right now.”

The so-called Panda Diplomacy with China has been going on for over 50 years now, ever since First Lady Pat Nixon welcomed Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing in 1972. China retains ownership of the pandas and any offspring, while the US pays about a million dollars a year for the privilege of housing them.

The countries also collaborate on conservation in the pandas’ natural habitat – a few mountain ranges in China’s Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. There are about 1800 in the wild and some 300 in captivity.

If you can’t make it to the Smithsonian National Zoo in January, there will be a live panda cam. Check it out now to watch Qing Bao and Bao Li have some fun with balls.