Giant panda Bei Bei turns one
Giant panda cub Bei Bei turned one on Aug. 20, 2016. Bei Bei was born in August 2015 at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. His twin did not survive, but every panda that makes it is considered a minor miracle.
Here, the Smithsonian’s youngest giant panda cub Bei Bei makes his public debut following his birth in August 2015 at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. on January 16, 2016.
Mei Xiang
Mei Xiang, mother of giant panda cub Bei Bei, eats Bei Bei’s birthday cake at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016, during a celebration of Bei Bei’s first birthday.
Giant panda Bei Bei
Bei Bei was given his name, which means ‘precious’ or ‘treasure’, five weeks after his birth by US and Chinese First Ladies Michelle Obama and Peng Liyuan.
Here, he is seen through glass, roaming in his pen at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Jan. 16, 2016.
Giant panda cub Bei Bei
Giant panda cub Bei Bei, seen through glass, roams in his pen at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Jan. 16, 2016.
Bei Bei
Giant pandas are only found in China (where there are only about 1,800 still in the wild), or in zoos around the world, where animals keepers are trying to encourage the procreation of this highly-endangered species.
National Zoo
Less than nine months old, Bei Bei (pictured with CBS News correspondent Rita Braver and biologist Laurie Thompson) weighs almost 44 pounds.
"Precious Treasure"
The baby giant panda is seen in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 14, 2015. The panda was named Bei Bei, which means “precious treasure.”
“The giant pandas are a species that is very difficult to reproduce and care for in captivity,” said Steven Monfort, director of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Va., “primarily because our knowledge of their biology has been very rudimentary until the last decade or so.”
Show And Tell
Animal keeper Nicole MacCorkle, left, and biologist Laurie Thompson attempt to look at the teeth of Bei Bei, the National Zoo’s newest panda and offspring of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, in front of members of the media at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Dec. 14, 2015.
At nearly 4 months old, Bei Bei weighed more than 17 pounds and was gaining about a pound a week.
Bei Bei
Bei Bei is seen at the National Zoo on Dec. 14, 2015.
For more info:
Smithsonian’s National Zoo, Washington, D.C.
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/WebCams/giant-panda.cfmSmithsonian Conservation Biology Institute
Hello
Animal keeper Nicole MacCorkle holds Bei Bei at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., Dec. 14, 2015.
Bei Bei
Animal keeper Stacey Tabellario holds Bei Bei, the National Zoo’s newest panda, as he is presented to members of the media at the National Zoo in Washington, Dec. 14, 2015.
Yawn
Giant panda cub Bei Bei stretches as he awakes in his pen at the National Zoo in Washington, Jan. 16, 2016.
Bei Bei
Pictured: One of a pair of giant panda cubs is examined by veterinarians after being born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2015, in Washington, D.C.
At birth -- pandas are born deaf, blind and hairless -- he was about one nine-hundredth the size of his mother. “They’re really, really tiny,” said National Zoo pandakeeper Marty Dearie. “But they’re really tough. Holding them in your hand, you’d be surprised at how sturdy they feel.”
Panda Twin
Keeper Stacey Tabellario bottle-feeds one of two giant panda cubs at the National Zoo in Washington.
After three-and-a-half days the smaller of the panda twins died.