cub
dr. dolittle | November 7, 2013The panda bear cub recently born at the Smithsonian Zoo is approaching her 100th day of life. Following Chinese tradition, the zoo will be announcing her name on December 1st.
In the meantime, the zoo is asking for your help in choosing her name by casting your vote using the online poll that can be found here.
The finalists are:
Bao Bao (宝宝): Precious, treasure.
Ling Hua (玲花): Darling, delicate flower.
Long Yun (龙韵): Long is the Chinese symbol of the dragon; Yun means charming. Combined this represents a sign of luck for panda cooperation between China and the United States.
Mulan (木兰):…
dr. dolittle | September 5, 2013Scientists at the Smithsonian National Zoo have now confirmed that the new panda bear cub born on August 23rd is a girl and Tian Tian is her father.
dr. dolittle | August 26, 2013
Image of panda bear cub at its first exam from the National Zoo.
Exciting news from the Smithsonian National Zoological Park! Mei, a giant panda bear at the zoo has given birth to a cub weighing in at 137 grams (~4.83 ounces)-too cute!! DNA tests will determine the sex as well as the paternity of the panda cub, which is either Tian Tian from the National Zoo or Gao Gao from the San Diego Zoo.
You can follow the Twitter feed from the Smithsonian here: #cubwatch in additon to checking out the live panda cam at the zoo.
laelaps | May 22, 2010
A lion cub (Panthera leo) stalking its sibling, photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
bioephemera | March 25, 2009
Photo by Tracy Woodward, WaPo
Yesterday, zookeepers at the National Zoo's Conservation and Research Center discovered two newborn clouded leopard cubs in the enclosure of their mother, Jao Chu. This is a big deal because it is notoriously difficult to breed clouded leopards in captivity: males can attack and kill females with whom they aren't properly bonded, and captive mothers often inadvertently or deliberately kill their cubs. Because of that risk, these two cubs were taken from Jao Chu to be raised by human researchers.
Jao Chu and her mate Hannibal were imported from Thailand last…