Results tagged “meixiang”

Man, the Washington Post really knows how to twist the knife while the wound is still fresh. Just a day after we all learned that the National Zoo's female adult panda, Mei Xiang, wasn't pregnant after all, Postie Michael E. Ruane files a story reminding us that Tai Shan, our beloved stick o' butter who's now all grown up, will eventually be sent back to China. Oh, and that day could come sooner than you think. Thanks, man. You also had something to tell us about Santa Claus, right?

Oh, Mei Xiang, you absolute heartbreaker. Staff at Smithsonian's National Zoo confirmed late yesterday their adult female giant panda is in fact not pregnant, and was instead experiencing another one of her pseudopregnancies. This also happened last summer. And the summer before that.

The Post offered up a panda pregnancy update this morning that contained nary a scrap of news. Not that we can blame Michael Ruane for teasing us with vague reports that Mei Xiang has refused to allow zookeepers to perform an ultrasound on her of late. (She did the same thing when she was pregnant with Tai Shan! But that doesn't necessarily mean anything!). Panda Fever is practically a religion around these parts, and with young Tai Shan now almost fully grown, D.C. is starting to get desperate for a brand new bundle of joy. It's been nearly three years of false pregnancies for Mei Xiang in the interim (not to mention the 4+ years before her only successful pregnancy), and we should know either way in the next couple of days whether the latest attempt at artificial insemination has worked. Either a new little stick o' butter will shoot out of Mei's uterus, or we'll have to settle for just another false alarm. In the meantime, the zoo's Panda House remains closed until further notice.

The fickle nature of the giant panda's reproductive system has foiled us once again. The National Zoo gave up the ghost this morning and announced that Mei Xiang's latest maybe-pregnancy won't result in an adorable panda cub for us to hug and squeeze and love forever.

When the District's resident panda cub was born two years ago, zoo officials inadvertently compared the tiny, hairless creature to a stick of butter. Since then, Tai Shan has always been Butterstick to those who love him the most.

A begrudging Mazel Tov from DCist to the city of San Diego is in order, as the Associated Press reports that Bai Yun, the San Diego Zoo's female panda, is definitely pregnant. Bai Yun has been put on "24-hour birth watch" after officials detected a fetus and fetal heartbeat through ultrasound images on July 18. More tests confirmed the pregnancy and the zoo made an official announcement yesterday. As you'll no doubt recall, Mei Xiang,...

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank. Phillyist was busy doing the Fourth of July up right, exercising their...

Woe is all of us this morning, as the National Zoo has officially announced that Mei Xiang is not really pregnant after all. Real panda pregnancies are notoriously difficult to diagnose, and this time, unlike two years ago, the hormonal spike recently tracked in the mama panda was a symptom of a false pregnancy. Sniff. This makes Mei Xiang's fourth pseudopregnancy. She had three before giving birth to Butterstick (aka Tai Shan), her only cub...

As is usually the case on this day in D.C., there is very little news to roundup, thus our rather loose definition of 'morning' today. We certainly hope you're having a relaxing and fun holiday so far. As you gather up beer and meat (or faux-meat) and head to your respective barbecues, take care. We've mentioned it before, but the entire city will be under added security measures today in the wake of the attempted...

>> National Zoo Panda Mama Mei Xiang may not be pregnant after all -- a recent ultra sound showed no evidence of a panda fetus. Sniff. [WTOP] >> Mayor Fenty thinks people should be able to swim in the Potomac. Sure, if they're willing to become bi-gendered. [WTOP] >> Just when you thought moving to Canada was the solution to trying live a saner, more civilized existence, they go and throw out the hallmark...

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on. In Gothamist's neck of the woods, they found out that many things are possible: A man caught a 40+ pound fish off the Rockaways and took it home on the subway. Graffiti...

WTOP broke the news last night that the National Zoo suspects its female panda, Mei Xiang, may be pregnant. As you'll recall, Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated by a donation from San Diego's nefarious male panda Gao Gao — an event about which we were deeply suspicious at first — but if Gao Gao's sperm is going to deliver us a new bundle of adorableness to obsessively watch on the PandaCam this year, we suppose...

There's a new tool combating pandas' frankly pathetic interest in species propagation: panda porn. (Link is SFW) Zoo officials in China are using video of pandas mating to induce the animals to get it on during their shockingly short (24-48 hours) mating season. Above and beyond any mere Panda Cam, these flicks include loud audio and plenty of adult situations. The result has been many successful pregnancies. We can only hope this baby boom...

Washington's most beloved toddler won't be sent to an unfamiliar country to participate in a forced breeding program. At least not yet. The irrepressibly cute Tai Shan, who turns two on July 2, has been given a reprieve by the Chinese government and will be staying at the National Zoo, at least for a while. Though the cub is a natural-born citizen of the U.S., an agreement with China says that any offspring from...

Post 'em if you got 'em, Washington. According to WJLA, today is the smack-dab middle of cherry blossom season. We hope you got your photos already. With rain in the morning, a cold snap beginning in the afternoon and winds that are likely to pull off blossoms, this year's best days for walking around the Tidal Basin seem to already be over. Rats. D.C. Council Provisionally Mandates HPV Vaccine: The debate over the Gardasil...

If you're anything like us, you've been enjoying bimonthly "FONZ Flash" emails from the zoo ever since you coughed up the money for a one-year membership just to get primo Butterstick viewing tickets last summer. It's nice to hear about upcoming lectures, new exhibits and the comings-and-goings of the animals in the collection. But yesterday's newsletter contained some... disconcerting news (which we were shocked to find made the rounds last week — without spurring outrage)....

If Washington seems a little more chatty today, it might be that the results of yesterday's primaries are finally starting to sink in. In the day's biggest race, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.), lost to novice Ned Lamont, while Rep. Cynthia McKinney again lost her seat in a runoff election in Georgia. We're of varying opinions on the Lieberman loss, but we can say this much -- please Cynthia, don't go. Pull a Tom DeLay and move to Virginia. We could use the entertainment.

Ahhh, Thursday. First day of the weekend. And a good day to play hooky and watch Trinidad and Tobago (powered by Howard alum Shaka Hislop) take on England at noon. And the news for the day: Controversy Over Terrorism Funds Continues: Local officials feel they were cheated of valuable federal anti-terrorism funds. Federal officials claim that local requests of funds for anti-terror program were ineffective at best. Who should we believe? The Post is...

We were going to hold out on publishing anything St. Patrick's Day-related until Thursday. But to be honest, it was a slow news week and the parade was held yesterday, so we're left with little more than to mention that in only five days the city's few Irish pubs will be packed with the Irish and Irish-for-a-day. Maybe the best part is that this year's celebration of the traditional Irish holiday falls on a Friday,...

ButterReality? Buttershtick? Maybe he's big enough for Wikipedia standards, but does Butterstick have his own reality show? No. But the gorillas at the Prague Zoo do, challenging the 'stick in a competition for the hottest eye candy to hit an international zoo. After Czechs decided they'd had their puke-worthy share of American reality television, they came up with "Unmasking", their own satirical spin-off. Contestants aren't thrown onto a desolate island. They're not running around...

Yesterday a select group of National Zoo donors were given first crack at seeing the District's newest four-legged sensation, Butterstick (yes, officially he is called Tai Shan, but National Airport is also officially known as Reagan and we're not about to start calling it that). Parents and children took the opportunity to ohhh and ahhh their way past the undeniably cute panda cub and mother Mei Xiang, while those of us too cheap to donate money to the cause are left with little more than the voyeuristic Panda Cam.

Good morning, Washington. This shot of the Key Bridge was taken by Flickr user easement, who also posted some neat infrared shots of the area in his photostream. If you live in Virginia and several towns in Maryland, today is election day! To find out your polling place check out the website of the Virginia Board of Elections or contact your local government. Virginia Governors' Race Neck and Neck: The gubernatorial race between Democrat Tim...

Good morning, Washington. We hope you had an enjoyable weekend - whether it was checking out the D.C. United game (they tied Chicago 0-0 and will play again next weekend), discovering the FSM in the Metro, or checking out Howard's homecoming. Be prepared for wet weather today - today will be cloudy with rain developing later in the day and temperatures in the 50s.

The National Zoo conducted their second exam on the as-yet unnamed panda cub yesterday, confirming not only that the baby is indeed a boy (not evident from the picture -- that's its tail, silly) but that panda moms love their babies. Hearing the little guy squeal made Mei Xiang

become agitated and run around the enclosure. She defecated and also vocalized, producing sharp high-pitched barks. After was reunited with her cub and had the cub in her arms, Mei settled down quickly.

After DCist noted this morning that the panda baby was happily grunting away - a very healthy sign - the National Zoo released news that the cub has had its first physical exam, and it's a boy! Cigars all around! When Mei Xiang left the den, zoo officials grabbed their chance to examine him:

At the cub's first exam, conducted by Dr. Sharon Deem, associate veterinarian, Laurie Perry, animal keeper, and Lisa Stevens, assistant curator, we learned that it's a boy! He looks healthy, weighs 1.82 pounds (825.7 grams), and has a total body length of 12 inches (30 cm). We were able to get a heart rate and respiration. The cub was very quiet during the nine-minute exam, and let out only one squawk when its mouth was examined. It is very solid and sturdy and extremely cute.

Yesterday was a special day for DCist - the new D.C. Circulator bus began operation. After all, what is more exciting than the launch of a new bus line? The new red buses will run along two routes - one between Georgetown and Union Station via K Street, the other between the Convention Center and the Southwest waterfront. One of our readers uploaded some photos of the interior of the new buses to DCist photos. According to the W. Times, the new buses will be free all week, and in regular service will cost $1 or free with a rail or bus transfer. With highs in the 90s today, the new bus may be a cool way to get across town.

Good evening to you! We hope you enjoyed this beautiful weekend; personally, we spent it lazing about, attending Bluestate, and checking out the Giant at Columbia Heights. The weather looks to hold out only until Wednesday, which kinda sucks, as we were hoping to enjoy an evening at Fort Reno Thursday night watching Monopoli. The photo above is of the gate at the British Embassy and was posted to DCist photos by EXB-WDC. And here's what you might have missed this past week on DCist:

D.C. residents and certain Gothamist editors rejoice! The Post reports that Mei Xiang, the 7 year-old panda at the National Zoo, has given birth to a cub "the size of a stick of butter," a visual that both makes us go "aww" and manages to creep us out.

Mei Xiang may be with child! We repeat: Mei Xiang may be with child! The National Zoo is reporting that the panda that zoologists artificially inseminated back in March may be pregnant. That's what hormore levels indicate. But it may be just a "pseudo pregnancy," something that will be keeping panda lovers everywhere on pins and needles. Mei Xiang went through two such pseudo pregnancies in 2003 and 2004.

Today will be partly cloudy with highs in the 40s. If you came to our happy hour thanks for stopping by, if not, go see what you missed! If you're a blogger the MeetUp.com D.C. blogger meetup for March is this Wednesday, and with a couple notable RSVP's already promises to be an interesting time. This weekend we took a walk around Second Street NE and reported on the controversy swirling around the FEC and...