National Zoo Gets Ready to Say Goodbye to Tai Shan

By Robbin Friedman
Jan. 5, 2009

Sometimes it’s hard to say goodbye—especially to an adorable panda bear. Last month, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., announced that its 4-year-old giant panda, Tai Shan, will leave the zoo in January or February and go to live in China.

Under an agreement with China, which owns all the giant pandas living in the United States, any panda born in the U.S. belongs to China and must be sent there to live. Tai Shan was born at the National Zoo in July 2005.

He was originally supposed to go to China when he turned two, but an agreement was reached allowing him to stay in Washington for two more years.
Cub on Camera

Tai Shan, whose name means “peaceful mountain,” captured hearts all over the world after his birth. The National Zoo set up a “panda cam” to record little Tai Shan and his parents, Tian Tian and Mei Xiang.

Over the Internet, animal lovers around the globe watched the pandas as they ate, napped, and romped with plants and toys.

Zookeepers and panda lovers in Washington know that Tai Shan will be safe and cared for at his new home in Wolong, in China’s Sichuan province. But they will also miss him.

“Tai Shan leaving Washington is terribly sad for the zoo, the community, and his fans around the world,” said Steve Monfort, acting director of the National Zoo. “He has become so special to the staff and the public—and we have learned so much from him in just four short years.”

 

Pandas in Peril

Giant pandas are endangered. Scientists think that only about 1,600 giant pandas still live in central China, the only country where pandas live in the wild and where many more once roamed.

Pandas have been threatened over many years by poaching, or illegal hunting. They have also lost much of their habitat. Adult pandas eat 40-50 pounds of bamboo a day.

As humans have cleared bamboo forests, the black-and-white bears have struggled to survive.

 

Scientists Working Together

China loans pandas to zoos in the U.S. and other countries to raise awareness of the endangered animals and to help scientists study them. Currently, 14 pandas live in the U.S.

Scientists in China and the United States hope that by learning more about the animals, they can help protect them. More than 160 giant pandas live in zoos and conservation centers around the world.

A number of these live in the Wolong Nature Reserve, where Tai Shan is headed.

Scientists at the Wolong reserve study pandas and also breed them to help the population grow. They hope that with greater numbers of pandas and more knowledge about the bears, they may one day be able to release giant pandas born in captivity into the wild.

Tai Shan, a “teenager” in panda years, is a good age to become part of Wolong’s conservation program.

Tai Shan will never live in the wild. But perhaps one day his children can roam freely in the bamboo forests where giant pandas belong.

How Pandas Grow

• At birth, baby pandas weigh only 3 to 5 ounces—and are about the size of a stick of butter!
• Adult pandas grow up to 6 feet tall and weigh as much as 300 pounds. Tai Shan weighed 168 pounds in December.
• Pandas can live at least 30 years in captivity.

 

Source: Scholastic News Online

 

Editor’s Note: Robbin Friedman is a contributing writer for Scholastic News Online.

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