The Oldest Living Panda in Human Care Just Had the Most Adorable Birthday Party

Courtesy of Ocean Park Hong Kong To celebrate An An becoming the world’s longest-living male giant panda under human care in history, the animal caretakers sent birthday wishes to him. He first sat down to enjoy his favorite bamboo shoot, yet the playful panda soon smashed and devoured the delectable cake!

A very special panda reached a milestone birthday this year.

An An, a giant panda living at Hong Kong Ocean Park in China, just turned 35 years old, making him the longest living panda currently living in captivity and the oldest male panda under human care, CNN reported.

To read more on this story, click here: The Oldest Living Panda in Human Care Just Had the Most Adorable Birthday Party

Xin Xin and Shuan Shuan: The Only Giant Pandas in the World Not Owned by China

Mexico City, Mexico -  The Chapultepec zoo in Mexico City says that Xin Xin and Shuan Shuan are the only giant pandas in the world not owned by China.

They were born in captivity in Mexico and although they have Chinese names, "they belong to Mexico," said Rafael Tinajero, a manager at the zoo.

They are the main attractions at the Chapultepec zoo in Mexico City, and what makes them unique is that they are not owned by China.

Many young pandas born abroad in captivity are later repatriated to China, where the species originates.

But Xin Xin and Shuan Shuan, with their plump bodies and tender expressions, will be staying put.

They are the last in the line of a panda couple -- Ying Ying and Pe Pe -- loaned to Mexico by the Chinese government in 1975.

Since 1980, China has operated a different policy in which it only lends pandas for a short time and in return for a payment towards wild panda conservation efforts.

The panda is considered a vulnerable species.

As Ying Ying and Pe Pe arrived in Mexico before China changed its policy, Xin Xin and Shuan Shuan will stay in Mexico.

"With that, Mexico became the first country outside of China to have had a successful natural reproduction of pandas outside their natural habitat, in captivity conditions," said Tinajero.

He said eight more pandas were born in Mexico between 1980 and 1990 but only four of those survived.

Giant pandas typically live until about 20 in the wild and 30 in captivity.

They average around 100-115 kilograms (220-250 pounds) and adults stand between 1.2 to 1.9 meters (4-6 feet) tall. Males can weigh as much as 160 kilograms.

8 Secrets Zoos Keep Under Wraps

Zoos exist to display exotic animals for all the world to see. But what's going on at zoos away from the public's view?

Few destinations conjure up as idyllic an image as an afternoon at the zoo. Strolling about on a nice day with some lighthearted animal-themed ice cream treat and checking out monkeys, bears, and a few sleeping reptiles is as wholesome as apple pie on the Fourth of July.

But certainly, some secrets must be hidden in the shadows of those cages and fake rock formations. For those who have ever wondered about what’s really going on at your local zoo behind the locked gates and after closing time, allow us to drops some zoo truths on you.

To read more on this story, click here: 8 Secrets Zoos Keep Under Wraps

Bei Bei The Giant Panda, At Smithsonian's National Zoo, Turned 3-Years-Old Today

Washington, DC - Bei Bei turned 3 years old today! In celebration of his big day, Bei Bei enjoyed an ice-cake, participated in an enrichment painting session and received a new panda-friendly toy.

His cake was specially made by the Zoo’s department of nutrition sciences and included all of his favorite foods. The tiers were made of diluted apple, cranberry and grape juice with leaf-eater biscuit puree. It was decorated and filled with apples, pears, bananas, shredded carrots and cooked sweet potatoes. The number 3 that topped the cake was made of diluted apple juice with a leaf-eater biscuit puree center.

Now weighing in at almost 215 pounds, Bei Bei has been taking full advantage of his summer—splashing around in his big green tub, and napping in trees and on his new hammock.

Tian Tian is the next giant panda to celebrate a birthday. He turns 21 on Monday, Aug. 27 and will also receive a special cake at 11 a.m.

The Giant Panda Is No Longer An Endangered Species

The Giant Panda, the symbol of conservation, has been declared as no longer endangered by a group of experts on Sunday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) now classifies the iconic animal as vulnerable on the Red List of Threatened Species after half a century of efforts to save it from extinction.

To read more on this story, click here: The Giant Panda Is No Longer An Endangered Species

You Must Watch This Video of Bei Bei Getting Stuck on a Tree Branch

All of D.C. just screeched in delight.

If you're not one of those screechers (yet), here's why everyone around you is continually hitting the "replay" button right now: The National Zoo just released video of its giant panda cub going outside, climbing partway up a tree and... wait for it... getting his back legs adorably stuck on a branch.

Go ahead. Watch. Hit replay a few dozen times.

We'll wait.

To read more on this story, click here: You Must Watch This Video of Bei Bei Getting Stuck on a Tree Branch

Washington, DC - Smithsonian National Zoo: Tian Tian, the Giant Panda Frolicking in the Snow

The Smithsonian National Zoo shared a video of its giant panda Tian Tian frolicking in the snow.

While most D.C. residents hunkered down to ride out the storm, at least one was having the time of his life.

The Smithsonian National Zoo shared a video of its giant panda Tian Tian frolicking in the snow Saturday morning. In the video, Tian Tian rolled down a snowy hill, covering himself in the white stuff.

Unfortunately, you won't get to see Tian Tian's snow dance in person. The National Zoo is closed through Sunday because of the severe weather. But hopefully, the adorable video above will hold you over.

Snow will continue to fall across the D.C. metro area Saturday, creating near whiteout conditions when combined with wind gusts of up to 30 mph. A blizzard warning is in effect for the D.C. area until Sunday at 6 a.m.

National Zoo: 25 Lucky Instagrammers Will Get a Sneak Peek of Bei Bei on December 19, With Instagram Competition

Bei Bei, won’t you come my way? The National Zoo’s giant panda cub, Bei Bei, is set to make his public debut next month, but Tuesday the zoo announced 25 lucky Instagrammers will get a sneak peek of the cub Dec. 19.

Anyone 13 or older is invited to enter the National Zoo’s competition from Dec. 1 to Dec. 7, for a chance to attend "#PandaStory Instameet" at the David M. Rubenstein Giant Panda Habitat.

Applicants can submit a 15 second video explaining why they want to participate in the National Zoo’s Instameet and are encouraged to discuss why they believe the conservation of giant pandas is important.

Winners will be invited to a behind-the-scenes experience at the panda habitat where keepers will be on hand to answer questions about Bei Bei and the Zoo's efforts to save giant pandas. Attendees are encouraged to share the experience on social media by using the hashtag #PandaStory.

Videos should be submitted via direct message to @SmithsonianZoo and applicants need to fill out a registration form by Dec. 7. The winners will be selected by Dec. 11.

Washington, DC – Bao Bao The Adorable Giant Panda Is Enjoying Having Her Own Place

She’s not so little anymore. In fact she’s got her own place and isn’t afraid to do, well, what we all secretly do when we’re alone: Run around like she just doesn’t care.

The National Zoo released a video Monday of Bao Bao tumbling around the yard of her enclosure, being the silly young panda that she is.

The zoo says she likes to eat next to the lower viewing glass where bamboo can simply drop from overhead — making it convenient for her keepers.

Check out her antics in the video below.

A Chinese Man Sues Local Government Officials Over an Attack by a Wild Panda and Wins More Than $80,000

Beijing, China  - A Chinese man sued local government officials over an attack by a wild panda. He won more than $80,000 in compensation.

The animals are known for their lovable appearance but despite their placid, bamboo-chewing image they are members of the bear family and have a fearsome bite.

The animal wandered into Liziba village, in the northwestern province of Gansu, where local officials trying to capture it chased it onto Guan Quanzhi's land.

"I saw a panda jump out in front of me, its body completely covered in mud," he told the newspaper.

The creature bit him in the leg and only released its grip when another villager covered its head with a coat. The incident in March last year, left Guan with injuries requiring seven hours of surgery.

The panda escaped.

Guan's son sued local forestry officials and the nearby Baishuijiang National Nature Reserve, which is home to more than 100 wild pandas.

Following "negotiations", officials agreed to pay compensation of 520,000 yuan ($83,000).

Guan is "satisfied with the amount", which will cover his medical bills, he said, adding that he may need further operations.

The number of wild giant pandas rose nearly 17 percent over the decade to 2013 to reach 1,864, state media cited an official survey data as saying this month, with a government agency crediting conservation measures for the increase.

Pandas are a major generator of tourist revenue in several parts of China and for Beijing, which capitalises on the global fascination with the animals by renting them to foreign zoos.

They have been known to attack humans.

The nature conservation organization, World Wide Fund (WWF) says on its website: "As cuddly as they may look, a panda can protect itself as well as most other bears," using its heavy weight, strong jaw muscles and large molar teeth.

It cautions: "Although used mainly for crushing bamboo, a panda bite can be very nasty."

Panda Cub Bao Bao, Reaches 18 Month Milestone Today: Will Soon Live Separately From Mom

Washington, DC - Bao Bao was born on August 23, 2013, at the National Zoo. Giant pandas are an endangered species, and are protected in part by conservation efforts at reservations and in zoos such as the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C. Giant Panda births are rare.

She is has reach a major milestone at the National Zoo and will soon begin living separately from her mother.

18 months old, is the age when panda cubs stop nursing and start living separately from their mothers.

The zoo says Bao Bao began the weaning process naturally a few months ago. She is now eating significantly more bamboo and other solid foods. Bao Bao eats separately from her mother and spends about six hours each day separated from her mother.

The zoo's panda team expects the weaning process will be complete in early March, and Bao Bao will be living on her own.

Zoo veterinarians also say panda mother Mei Xiang is in good health.

Baby Panda Bao Bao Melting Hearts at National Zoo
Baby panda Bao Bao has had her public debut at Washington, D.C.'s National Zoo, with hundreds lining up for a glimpse of the five-month-old. WSJ's Neil Hickey reports on how Bao Bao is coping with the public adulation.




Wild Inside the National Zoo: Bao Bao's First Year
In the first episode of our web series, Wild Inside the National Zoo, we track a year in the life of the zoo's biggest star.




Bao Bao's First Snow Day!
Jan. 6, 2015—As the year’s first blanket of snow coated the Washington, D.C. area today, giant panda Bao Bao spent much of the morning playing in it for the very first time. The sixteen month-old panda cub tumbled down the hill in her outdoor enclosure, climbed trees and pounced on her mother Mei Xiang.

Panda May Have Faked Pregnancy for More Buns, Bamboo

A giant panda slated to be the star of the first-ever live broadcast of the birth of panda cubs has lost the role -- after it was discovered the bear is not pregnant after all, Chinese state media reported.

Not only was it a phantom pregnancy, but zookeepers suspect the panda, Ai Hin, may have been faking it to improve her quality of life, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding told Xinhua on Monday.

Ai Hin, age 6, had shown signs of pregnancy, including a change in appetite, moving less and an increase in progestational hormone in July, according to Xinhua.

But after almost two months, she began acting normally again, zookeepers said.

Experts say pandas sometimes carry on the behaviors associated with early pregnancy after noticing that they get preferential treatment, the news agency reported.

"After showing prenatal signs, the 'mothers-to-be' are moved into single rooms with air conditioning and around-the-clock care," Wu Kongju, an expert at the Chengdu base, is quoted as saying.

"They also receive more buns, fruits and bamboo, so some clever pandas have used this to their advantage to improve their quality of life."

The birth of Ai Hin's supposed cub and its progress in its early days, from its first cries to acquiring its distinctive black-and-white fur, were due to be broadcast online to panda lovers in China and worldwide.

Giant pandas are notoriously reluctant to breed in captivity and pseudo-pregnancies are common.

The female is fertile for no more than three days a year, and the time span for a pregnancy is from 80 to 200 days, according to the Chengdu base. Scientists will closely monitor behavioral and physiological signs, but it's often a guessing game.

Even if a pregnancy proves genuine, baby pandas have very low survival rates. According to the Chengdu base, only a third to a half of pandas born in Chinese captivity manage to survive past infancy.

There was good news last month, though, when a panda gave birth to a healthy set of triplets in China's Chimelong Safari Park in the southern city of Guangzhou. The cubs are thought to be the only living panda triplets in the world.

Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland thinks its panda, Tian Tian, could be the next to produce a cub, based on the latest scientific tests, but there are no guarantees.

"It is very likely that we will not know 100% if Tian Tian is pregnant until she gives birth," Iain Valentine, Director of giant pandas for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, said earlier this month.

As few as 1,600 giant pandas survive in the mountain forests of central China, according to the Smithsonian Institution's National Zoo in Washington. More than 300 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world, most of them in China.

This picture taken on July 17, 2014 shows giant panda Ai Hin sitting in its enclosure at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre in Chengdu, in southwest China's Sichuan's province. Hopes that tiny panda paws would be seen in the world's first live-broadcast cub delivery were dashed on August 26, 2014 when Chinese experts suggested the mother may have been focusing more on extra bun rations than giving birth. (Photo: STR AFP/Getty Images))

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