BY KARA FOWLER
Staff Writer
Facts about Giant Pandas
In 2016, Chinese conservation officials pronounced that giant pandas are no longer an endangered species. Their new status for pandas is “vulnerable” for the past five years now. There are now more than 1,800 giant pandas living in the wild. They achieved this by maintaining their nature reserves. They are still living in bamboo forests to this day but they are at a higher risk of their homes being destroyed due to climate change.
Healthy pandas have a usual diet of bamboo, carrots, apples, and sweet potatoes.
Xiao Qi Ji
Last month, in the Smithsonian’s zoo, a one year old panda named Xiao Qi Ji discovered the enjoyment of water. The keepers would be cleaning the area with the water hose. The bear encounters the spraying water and tries to play with the water. It’s uniquely the same trait as his older brother Bei Bei. Each panda has their own way of playing, but it seems like his family loved to play in the water.
He first encountered the sweet potato at the age of 5 months old. The keepers used a bamboo stick as a spoon, they scraped sweet potato onto the end of the shredded stick into his mouth. He laid back and continued to lick the reminder of the sweet potato. The zookeeper’s were trying to give him more but Xiao wouldn’t stop nibbling on the stick.
On Sunday of January 31st, he encountered snow. As the flakes were falling onto the floor they brought Xiao Qi Ji out of the enclosure to see a snow covered patio. The panda was very unsure of its surroundings at first. He sniffed the snow and ended up taking bites of it. One of the zookeepers, Stacey Tabellario, built him his own cub sized snowman. He only stayed out there for five minutes, but overall seemed like he was having a blast.