Meet the Capital’s Freshman Pandas

After a journey from the other side of the world, the newest residents of the National Zoo arrived at their new home Wednesday in a style worthy of a high-level visiting dignitary--courtesy of a 15-vehicle motorcade.

Mei Xiang, a 2-year-old female, and Tian Tian, a 3-year-old male, traveled on a 17-hour flight from China in custom-designed crates aboard a special Federal Express plane dubbed “PandaOne.”

The giant pandas are on loan to the National Zoo for 10 years from China’s Wolong Nature Reserve. The zoo will donate $1 million a year to the Chinese government over the 10-year period to promote panda conservation in China.

During their flight, which included a refueling stop in Anchorage, the black-and-white animals devoured nearly all of the 100 pounds of bamboo provided for them and “showed no signs of stress,” said Darlene Fiaquin, a spokeswoman for Federal Express, which sponsored the pandas’ journey.

Pandas Placed in Quarantine

The two were whisked away into quarantine--where they will remain for 30 days--shortly after arriving at the zoo from Dulles International Airport outside Washington. Quarantine is standard procedure for all the zoo’s newly arrived animals.

Mei Xiang (pronounced may-SHONG) and Tian Tian (t-YEN t-YEN) are the zoo’s second pair of giant pandas. In 1972, China presented Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, the National Zoo’s first giant pandas, as a gift to the American people to commemorate President Nixon’s historic visit to China. Ling-Ling died of heart failure in 1992 and Hsing-Hsing, who suffered from debilitating, age-related illnesses, was euthanized in November 1999.

Only about 1,000 giant pandas remain in the wild, mostly in western and central China, and about 120 live in captivity in China. Twenty others live in zoos around the world, including three at the San Diego Zoo and two in Atlanta.

Pandas have a low reproductive rate, and Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing were never able to produce any viable offspring. The new pandas are not yet old enough to reproduce, but zoo officials hope that they will mate eventually. Any offspring would be the property of China.

The San Diego pandas mated successfully, producing in August 1999 a cub named Hua Mei--the first giant panda born in the United States to survive past four days. Her debut at the zoo last February drew huge crowds.

Unlike Hsing-Hsing, who was fairly sedentary in his last years, National Zoo officials expect the new pandas to be more active.

“They’ll be playful, rambunctious. They’ll be climbing around,” zoo spokesman Bob Hoage said. “People forget that Hsing-Hsing had a lot of geriatric ailments in his final years.”

Besides bamboo, the pandas’ diet will consist of a nutritional food that looks like dog kibble and fruit. Pandas feed 12 to 16 hours a day, consuming approximately 20 to 40 pounds of bamboo leaves and stems.

Washington is pulling out all the stops to welcome the animals. Tian Tian, whose name means “more and more” and Mei Xiang, whose name means “beautiful fragrance,” will be housed in the zoo’s renovated panda quarters, which include three indoor panda chambers painted with panoramic murals depicting the misty mountains and evergreens of the animals’ native environment.

Water and Fog in Exhibit Areas

The outdoor exhibit areas include a water-mister next to a rocky cave and a fog-making spout near another cave.

Said Dennis Halsey, who drove the pandas from Dulles to the zoo: “It’s the nation’s capital, so they’re kind of the nation’s pandas. It’s one of the most beloved things in the city.”