WASHINGTON -- Baby panda Tai Shan squirmed in his keeper's arms at the National Zoo Tuesday morning as she brought him out to make his official media debut, then crawled and tumbled around a rock pile for several minutes before wandering off out of view.
More than 100 journalists showed up at sunrise Tuesday for a chance to see the 4 1/2-month-old cub, who previously has been visible only via a Webcam connected to his den at the Panda House. The cub goes on public display next week, and all the available free tickets are already gone.
Although zoo officials warned that animal behavior cannot be predicted so a cub sighting was not guaranteed, keepers picked up the toddler-size panda and walked him across the front of an indoor den for each of the five shifts of reporters and camera crews who watched from the other side of a glass wall. The 21-pound cub, who keepers say is increasingly assertive, flailed his arms as he was held.
Once he was put down, the little bear sniffed the air, shook his head, crawled awkwardly to the top of a rock pile, then turned and faced the camera as one group watched. Though giant pandas officially are described as black and white, the cub's fur was less a blazing white than a softer antiqued hue. Tai Shan walked through a small stream, water splashing off his claws. He maneuvered, slid and climbed his way around before disappearing behind a rock wall.
Later, he stood on his hind legs and lifted himself up onto a rock pile. A piece of straw clung to his fur. He hauled himself to the edge of a ledge. The drop was about a foot and a half.
Tai Shan "seems very anxious to go outside" and zoo staff are cub-proofing the outdoor yard with the intention of letting him out in the next few weeks, keeper Nicole Meese said. Keeper Laurie Perry said cub-proofing includes removing some electrified wires from trees so he can climb them, and filling in gaps in rock work to prevent his paw from getting stuck.
John Gibbons, a zoo spokesman, said the animal park has been fielding daily media requests for exclusive peeks at Tai Shan. But until Tuesday morning, the only photos of the cub made public were those taken by the zoo -- a clamp on coverage that only heightened interest in seeing the rare creature.
Tai Shan is the first panda cub born at the National Zoo to survive more than a few days. Five were born during the 1980s to the zoo's previous pair of giant pandas.
The cub's mother, Mei Xiang, and her mate, Tian Tian, came to the National Zoo from China in December 2000 on a 10-year-loan. Zoo keepers do not plan to place Tian Tian and Tai Shan together because panda fathers do not play a role in child-rearing.
The zoo is paying China $1 million a year in privately raised funds, which go for conservation programs intended to improve the animal's status in the wild. The Smithsonian animal park also is trying to raise $400,000 to continue its panda research program at the zoo and in China.
The cub will go back to China when he is two and become part of the breeding program there, which has had remarkable success in increasing the population of captive animals. "Going back to China will be a good thing for him," said zoo reproductive scientist JoGayle Howard.
This is cache, read story here
