Visitors to the National Zoo in Washington will soon be able to catch a glimpse of a giant panda cub who may be the one of the most famous - and adorable members of the animal kingdom, the zoo announced this week.
The four-and-a-half-month-old giant panda cub Bao Bao, whose name means "precious" or "treasure" in Chinese, was seen by a select few during a special viewing last weekend. Starting this Saturday, anyone can visit her.
For those who can't hoof it all the way to the National Zoo, there's always the online panda cam, which has been turned on again after going to blackout during the government shutdown in October.
The cam shows round-the-clock coverage of Bao Bao and her mother, panda Mei Xiang.
Normally, giant pandas live in coniferous forests with dense bamboo undergrowth. The forests are typically wet, with year-round rain or heavy mist and are found at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet, according to the zoo.
Scientists estimate that there are only about 1,600 giant pandas left in the wild, most in the mountain ranges in Central China's Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. Pandas also used to live in the low lands, but farming, forest clearing and developments pushed them out of those areas, according to the zoo.
About 300 giant pandas are now living in captivity, most of them in China.
Babies like Bao Bao weigh only three to five ounces at birth. They are born pink, hairless, blind and only about as big as a stick of butter, according to the zoo's website. Cubs keep their eyes closed until they reach six to eight weeks of age and walk by themselves at three months.
Giant panda cubs typically stay with their mothers for one and a half to three years after being born.
In the wild, giant pandas eat a diet consisting only of bamboo and typically spend 10 to 16 hours finding and eating 20 to 40 pounds of it per-day.
Giant pandas like can live up to 35 years, according to the zoo.
Visitors to San Diego, Atlanta and Memphis zoos can also catch a glimpse of giant pandas there.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
