Even as plenty of the National Zoo's other animals are efficiently producing adorable offspring, its giant pandas have generated little more than deflated hopes for another Butterstick. One philanthropist is hoping his investment will change that. more ›

Last Monday, one of our readers made us all insanely jealous by getting the chance to visit Wolong's Bifengxia Base in Ya'an, Sichuan and catch up with our old friend Butterstick. But we did notice was that Tai Shan had, uh, put on a couple of pounds. more ›

Obviously, no one around the city wants to jinx the possibility that the National Zoo's female giant panda, Mei Xiang, might be pregnant. (In fact, I just knocked on wood after typing that sentence.) more ›

You'll have to excuse me if I get a little verklempt tomorrow morning while putting together the Morning Roundup -- after all, tomorrow will mark one year to the day from which we published what has to be one of the saddest photosets in this fair blog's history, documenting Butterstick's departure from the National Zoo. So how's our buddy doing? more ›

On his Slate blog, Tom Scocca notes -- in a post titled "Puny and Decadent American-Bred Panda Is Being Retrained to Chinese Standards," which, by the way, incorrectly attributes the "Butterstick" moniker to Wonkette and not its actual creator -- that after ripping him away from us, the Chinese found our beloved Butterstick to be, well, not up to standard. more ›

Omg panda! Okay, okay, we know many of you may not care or will just make fun of us for our never ending panda obsession, but we still squealed with something a little bit like joy when Flickr unveiled its brand new look yesterday, complete with surprise panda bear action. more ›

Our beloved Butterstick was released from his 30-day quarantine at Wolong's Bifengxia Base in Ya'an, Sichuan earlier today. Tai is reportedly getting along well with his keepers (we're so proud!) and was allowed to roam around his new enclosure at the base for the first time. more ›

Our beloved Butterstick has only been in China for a few hours, and they've already pimped him out as a corporate spokesperson. The Washington Post reports that Sichuan Auto Industry Group, a Chinese automaker, will fork over $150,000 to "adopt" Tai Shan for life. more ›

Butterstick, aka Tai Shan, has arrived at his new home at Wolong's Bifengxia Base in Ya'an, Sichuan, according to a news release from the National Zoo. more ›

Say what you will about obsessive panda fans becoming overly emotional about Tai Shan leaving D.C. this morning for China, but there's one group of people who have every right to cry: the National Zoo's panda team. more ›

If you've been putting it off, wait no longer. Sneak out of the office right now and get on up to the Smithsonian's National Zoo, because Tai Shan is leaving in the morning. Animal exhibits are typically only open until 4:30 p.m. in the winter months, so time is fleeting. more ›

The National Zoo will be closing at 1 p.m. today, due to the snow. Of course, this means that Tai Shan's farewell celebration will also be ending at that time -- the big fella was scheduled to get a special frozen cake at 1:30; but he'll now receive the treat at noon. If you had plans to say goodbye to our beloved Butterstick, better get yourself to the Zoo on the double. more ›

Butterstick may be leaving us in less than a week, but at least he'll be doing it in style. more ›

We already knew the date for Butterstick's going away party, but now it looks like we at last have the final date when he'll permanently depart for dread Red China. The Associated Press is quoting Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough as saying Tai Shan will leave D.C.'s National Zoo on Feb. 4. more ›

The National Zoo has at last released more details on the planned "Tai Shan Farewell Celebration" it started hyping a couple weeks ago, and they're pretty fantastic. Chief among them: a planned "Land O'Lakes® Butterstick Tribute," surely the greatest promotional tie-in ever conceived. According to a zoo release, the Land O'Lakes tribute will "showcase photos of Tai Shan since his birth in 2005." Dig it. more ›

Woe is us! News that the National Zoo has scheduled a farewell gathering for Tai Shan only means one thing: Butterstick is really leaving. And soon. more ›

The National Zoo had to temporarily shut down their December ZooLights events due to Saturday's snowstorm, but tonight they're resuming their regular schedule. This is the last night you can stop by before Christmas; remaining nights run December 26 through January 2, except December 31. Wander the park to see their displays of environmentally-friendly LED lights -- Pepco representatives are also on hand to talk about energy-saving techniques to use in your home. Then visit Butterstick to say your last goodbyes; the ape, reptile, and small mammal houses are also open, as well as the Kid's Farm (which we're pretty sure is for kids, not of them). Bring canned goods to the Panda or Great Cats shops to benefit the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization. Be sure to get some freshly made kettle corn while you're there ... mmm....kettle corn. We're still not sure how we feel about the giant animal snow globe feature, so maybe skip that and head straight to the "dancing tree" performances at the Elephant Trial and the Bat Cave. more ›

We've long been fans of The Daily Show's Resident Expert John "Mr. PC" Hodgman, but last night he may have put himself over the top to become our favorite personality on the show. During a discussion with Jon Stewart over how best to approach solving the United States' debt crisis with China, Hodgman noted that the one thing we have that China really seems to want is our very own Butterstick. Couldn't we use the furball for a little leverage? We'd certainly argue that Tai Shan (or as Hodgman calls him, "the panda") is worth somewhere around $800 billion TO OUR HEARTS. more ›

Tai Shan, the National Zoo's main attraction for the last four years and its only surviving giant panda cub, will be taken to China sometime in early 2010, Zoo officials said today. News that the Zoo's lease on the young panda would not be renewed first broke early this morning. more ›

We knew this day was probably coming, but somehow we still weren't prepared. Tai Shan, the National Zoo's only surviving giant panda cub, the pride and joy of Washington, the one and only Butterstick, is being snatched away from us. Zoo officials have scheduled a 10 a.m. press conference this morning to announce that our favorite furball will soon be sent to the People’s Republic of China, per the agreement between the Zoo and the Chinese government. more ›

Bai Yun, the San Diego Zoo's female panda, just thinks she's soooooo great, doesn't she. She's been popping out babies left and right over the last few years, already having had four to our own Mei Xiang's one, and then just to pour salt in the wound, she had to go and have a fifth one yesterday. Well la-di-dah, San Diego. Aren't you friggin' special. more ›

The National Zoo once again rolled out the fanfare for superstar giant panda Tai Shan this morning, as D.C.'s favorite ball of fur (and stick of butter) turned 4. Now a teenager in "bear years," the panda dug into a three-tiered, frozen "cake" made out of water, beet juice, bamboo and fruit that was prepared by Zoo staff. Crowds of onlookers were on hand early this morning to watch the panda dig in to his treat and wish him a happy birthday. more ›

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? more ›

Yesterday, NBCWashington.com got exclusive access into the operating room during Butterstick's colonoscopy -- and there's good news: the big guy's got a completely clean bill of health. more ›

Flickr user RoxandaBear recently uploaded this insanely cute video of Tai Shan eating an apple to our DCist Videos group. We couldn't ever get enough Butterstick, but we also can't help but notice that the Videos group is a little lacking in the non-adorable animal department. Our Flickr Photo group has become its own vibrant online community, and we'd love to see that same kind of participation in our Videos group. So let this be a reminder to you that you can submit video content to DCist either through our Flickr group or by tagging your YouTube videos with "dcist". We look forward to seeing what you're seeing out there! more ›

For the non FONZ members of the reading audience, Tian Tian is the adult male giant panda at the National Zoo. That is to say, he's the Butter Daddy. He and Mei Xiang are to thank for bringing that lovable little fella we call Butterstick into the world. Of course, as is custom for giant pandas, there isn't a relationship between the father and his offspring (beyond the occasional glimpse through the fence; they live in separate but adjacent pens as male pandas don't play a role in raising offspring). And today is his birthday! A virgo like myself (that might explain all those independent tendencies), today marks his 11th glorious year on the planet. Does anybody know anything about panda years? Are they like dog years? more ›

It was three years ago today that the National Zoo welcomed Tai Shan into the world. We fell in love immediately with the little fella, whom we named after the first press release deemed him the "size of a stick of butter." The Zoo later officially gave him a different name (despite our best efforts otherwise). more ›

The Associated Press has a shameful story this morning accusing the National Zoo's beloved panda cub, Tai Shan (aka Butterstick), of injuring a zookeeper. Pandas don't do anything wrong, AP! They are only adorable and cuddly and lovable and that's all. Didn't you get the memo? more ›