National Zoo

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National Zoo Welcomes Panda Cub

Mei Xiang gives birth to long-awaited second cub

(Newser) - After five consecutive false pregnancies since 2007, the National Zoo finally has a little panda bundle of joy: The zoo's giant panda female, Mei Xiang, gave birth to a cub last night at 10:46pm, reports the AP . Zoo staffers have yet to see the cub, which is ensconced...

Bird Expert Convicted in Cat Poison Bid

Researcher wrote on the feline menace to birds

(Newser) - A Smithsonian bird researcher has been convicted of animal cruelty after she tried to poison the local cat population. Nico Dauphine, 38, was caught on a security tape standing in front of a bowl of cat food outside a DC apartment building, the Los Angeles Times reports. She said she...

Laid-Off Federal Worker Confronts Obama

'What would you do if you were me?' asks Karin Gallo

(Newser) - A spokeswomen for the National Zoo who is seven months pregnant and will be laid off as of June 4 because of budget cuts confronted President Barack Obama at a town hall meeting yesterday. "I'm scared about what my future holds," Karin Gallo said. "I definitely...

Outcome of Hu's Visit: We Get Pandas Longer

Five more years, to be exact

(Newser) - Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, those sweet, cuddly pandas that rank among our national treasures, actually aren't ours—but we get to keep them for a little while longer. At last night's state dinner, Obama announced that China, which has been loaning us the creatures under an agreement that expired...

DC Panda's Pregnancy a Fake
 DC Panda's Pregnancy a Fake 
Apr 29, 2010 6:00 AM CDT

DC Panda's Pregnancy a Fake

Mei Xiang not expecting after all, National Zoo says

(Newser) - Mei Xiang's latest pregnancy has turned out to be another fake, disappointed zookeepers at the National Zoo say. The panda showed all the signs of pregnancy—including elevated hormone levels, building bamboo nests, and cradling objects as if they were cubs—but tests have revealed that she isn't really pregnant,...

Chinese Automaker 'Adopts' Panda Tai Shan

Chinese car company will pay $150K for DC treasure

(Newser) - Giant panda Tai Shan arrived in China today after nearly 5 years in Washington, DC, and found a nice surprise waiting for him: a corporate sponsorship. Sichuan Auto Industry Group will pay $150,000 for a lifelong claim to Tai Shan, along with $90,000 annually for his food and...

National Zoo's Panda Cub Heads to China

Washington's Tai Shan and Atlanta's Mei Lan moving to China to breed

(Newser) - Washington will bid its favorite panda adieu on Feb. 4, when Tai Shan leaves for China to breed, accompanied by Zoo Atlanta's Mei Lan. “It's like sending off your own child to college,” Tai Shan's fan club founder tells the Post , adding that fan club members have raised...

DC's Beloved Panda Headed for China

Capital glum as Tai Shan's time runs out

(Newser) - The panda bear once called Washington's most important citizen by its mayor will soon be departing the capital for a homeland he's never seen. Tai Shan, born at the National Zoo in 2005, has always been Chinese property, and zoo officials are expected to announce his imminent return to China...

Tai Shan Turns 4
 Tai Shan Turns 4  
birthday slideshow
Jul 9, 2009 4:05 PM CDT

Tai Shan Turns 4

(Newser) - Tai Shan, the giant panda who captivated the world as a cub, turned 4 today and celebrated with a huge birthday cake only an animal could love. The three-tiered concoction was a frozen medley of water, beet juice, shredded beets, and bamboo, WTOP reports. Tai Shan, who is now considered...

National Zoo Panda Not Pregnant

(Newser) - Giant panda Mei Xiang, whose first cub became an international superstar, is not pregnant, National Zoo officials said today. The panda, who was artificially inseminated in January, experienced her third false pregnancy in as many years, the Washington Post reports. Four-year-old Tai Shan, Mei Xiang's only cub to survive infancy,...

Stimulus Bill Shines on National Zoo

Despite ban, bailout will fortify homes for animals in DC

(Newser) - Luke the Lion is expecting home renovations while animals around the country are stuck with what they've got, Pro Publica reports. Luke's trick: living in the National Zoo in Washington, DC. The economic stimulus law forbids local and state outlays to zoos, but neglected to mention the National Zoo,...

DC Zoo's Panda on Pregnancy Watch

(Newser) - The National Zoo’s female giant panda may be pregnant, the Washington Post reports. Volunteers are monitoring Mei Xiang around the clock after zookeepers noticed behavioral changes that indicate the mom to celebu-panda Tai Shan is expecting, including creating a bamboo den in a dark and quiet place, and cradling...

Pandas: Better at Crowd Pleasing Than Breeding

For so many reasons, these cute bears should probably never have survived

(Newser) - Pandas have a lot working against them when it comes to to making babies: a once-yearly ovulation cycle, genetic inbreeding due to a limited captive population, and, apparently, some degree of ineptness at copulation itself. Zoo officials frequently see their excitement crushed by what turn out to be pseudopregnancies, and...

Rare Leopard Cubs Born at Zoo
 Rare Leopard Cubs Born at Zoo 
Mar 25, 2009 11:09 AM CDT

Rare Leopard Cubs Born at Zoo

Twins are DC Zoo's first clouded leopard babies in 16 years

(Newser) - The National Zoo just got a tiny bit cuter with the birth of two rare clouded leopard cubs at its conservation center, the Washington Post reports. The babies are the first of their endangered species, called ghost leopards for their blurry black-and-tan spots, born at the zoo in 16 years....

Whistling Orangutan Surprises Scientists

Her talent may help explain how human speech evolved

(Newser) - An orangutan at Washington's National Zoo has pleased her caretakers with a unique skill—she's taken up whistling. Researchers have previously taught apes to do so, but Bonnie is different in that she started on her own, apparently by mimicking zookeepers, NPR reports. (She also imitates workers sweeping floors and...

Panda Lovin' Leaves DC Zoo Wanting
Panda Lovin' Leaves DC Zoo Wanting
Jan 19, 2009 8:40 AM CST

Panda Lovin' Leaves DC Zoo Wanting

Bears fail again at 'competent mating'; keepers help out

(Newser) - A romantic day in the park amid inaugural hubbub wasn’t enough to propagate the genes of two famous pandas at Washington’s National Zoo, the Washington Post reports. The pair had given mating calls, prompting hopes for the conception of a new member of the endangered species, which is...

National Zoo Pleads for Bamboo
National Zoo Pleads for Bamboo 
Jan 15, 2009 7:05 AM CST

National Zoo Pleads for Bamboo

Own harvest has failed; may not have enough to get through winter

(Newser) - The National Zoo is appealing for donations from landowners in the Washington area who may have stands of green crunchy bamboo stalks, reports the Washington Post. The zoo's own harvest of bamboo has failed and with the zoo's giant pandas, red pandas, elephants and gorillas eating 75,000 pounds of...

DC Zoo Evicting Hippo
 DC Zoo Evicting Hippo
Aug 3, 2008 2:18 PM CDT

DC Zoo Evicting Hippo

'Happy' must move to make place for elephants

(Newser) - The National Zoo is adding a new elephant sanctuary, reports the Washington Post, and the move is putting its sole Nile hippopotamus, Happy, out on the street in a year or so. The zoo will hold onto its pygmy hippos, but is more committed to Asian elephant programs. "You...

National Zoo's Panda Preggers?
 National Zoo's Panda Preggers? 
Jun 20, 2008 11:56 AM CDT

National Zoo's Panda Preggers?

Hormone levels suggest Mei Xiang may be expecting

(Newser) - The National Zoo in DC says panda mother Mei Xiang is showing a spike in hormone levels, a sign that she might be pregnant again. Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated in March with semen from Tian Tian, the zoo's male giant panda. Hormone test results indicate Mei Xiang will either...

Celebs Earn Stripes Helping Save Tigers

Harrison Ford, Bo Derek on board with World Bank effort to preserve habitats

(Newser) - Actors Bo Derek, Harrison Ford, and Robert Duvall helped the World Bank kick off a tiger-preservation campaign yesterday in Washington, CNN reports, with efforts to save the endangered species' habitats atop the list. Derek, who works with the US State Department to fight trafficking, says the tiger initiative should stem...

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