Tai Shan Ready For Close-Up
Washington is getting an early holiday gift this year. There are brand new pictures of the National Zoo's giant panda cub, Tai Shan, who made his debut Tuesday morning before the media.
He will turn 5 months old on Dec. 9 and panda curator Lisa Stevens tells The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen that Tai Shan is doing great.
"He's showing us each day that he's more and more of a little bear cub," Stevens says.
Describing his day-to-day activities, she says Tai Shan's sleeping patterns are still irregular.
"Some days he gets up really early, around 4 or 5 in the morning, and starts playing like crazy, climbing on his mother, climbing on the rocks," she says. "Then other mornings, he sleeps in. So it's very variable."
As for his diet, "he's solely consuming his mother's milk," Stevens says. "We've already been giving him bamboo. It's very cute to watch him. He rehearses all the adult moves. He slouches back and holds the bamboo in his paws. He pulls the leaves through his mouth. He chews on them and he chews on the stalk. But he's not swallowing it. He's not eating it. We expect that milestone to occur sometime about a month from now."
Overall, zoo officials are happy with the progress that he is making, although Stevens says Tai Shan may be a little heavy for his age. The cub weighs 19.2 pounds.
The general public will get their first chance to see him on Dec. 8 — if they got their tickets already.
"We have a ticketing system, which right now is booked up," Stevens says. "Certainly check our Web site. We have daily updates on Tai Shan and how he's' doing. And there will be updates posted as soon as we can on when more tickets are available."
For only two hours a day, those holding the precious tickets will be able to see Tai Shan.
"As he adjusts and Mei Xiang (the mother) adjusts to the schedule, we'll try to expand those hours as soon as we can," Stevens says.
Tai Shan will return to China when he is 2 years old. All cubs born in the United States must return in this time frame, according to the formal loan agreement.
"He is part of a major breeding program to maintain a healthy population of this endangered species in captivity," Stevens says. "At 2 years of age, decisions will be made on where he should go to benefit the breeding population."
Giant pandas are black and white bears that live in temperate-zone bamboo forests in central China. Among the best recognized, but rarest animals in the world, they have come to symbolize endangered species and conservation efforts. As few as 1,600 giant pandas survive in the mountain forests of central China. Another 120 are in Chinese breeding facilities and zoos, and about 20 live in zoos outside China.
The parents, giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, are at the National Zoo on a 10-year loan from the China Wildlife Conservation Association. They are the focus of research, conservation, and breeding program designed to preserve the endangered species.