Betty White visited the National Zoo today and got a private tour of the giant pandas, fluffy little kiwis and other specimens. If this isn't the most SEO-friendly thing ever, we don't know what is. more ›

Who says tweets aren't news? Starting at 4 p.m., the National Zoo will be live-tweeting from an examination room as its scientists attempt to artificially inseminate the female giant panda Mei Xiang. 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 ›

Every time we post about cute baby animals in our little corner of the internet here at DCist, we're often met with a barrage of comments from a few of our loyal readers about how they would like to waltz into the Zoo and swipe one of the little ones for themselves. (Not that we would ever condone such behavior, just like we wouldn't condone bringing a baby red panda over to our headquarters for some fun. Nope, definitely not.) more ›

If there's a better way to prepare for the impending weekend than watching this video of pandas doing the Dougie, well, I haven't found it yet. Eat your heart out, John Wall. more ›

Panda sex! Now that I have your attention, let's talk about it. It's around this time of the year when we get all excited, Tian Tian and Mei Xiang do their whole "we're really not into this whole intimacy" thing, then Mei gets loaded up with frozen sperm, only to inevitably disappoint us all when, for yet another year, we get no baby pandas. The National Zoo reveals this afternoon, in great detail, that, oh yes, that time has definitely arrived. more ›

Any day we get to announce the winners of our fifth Exposed photo show and hold on to our beloved pandas for another five years, well, that's a pretty fantastic day. NBCWashington.com reports that Mei Xiang and Tian Tian's loan has been extended through December 2015 -- not only that, the Zoo will only have to pay half of what they were paying yearly to host the panda pair. more ›

Officials at the Smithsonian's National Zoo say they are gearing up for the final 24 hours of watching to see if giant panda Mei Xiang might be pregnant again. Starting at 4 p.m. today, a group of more than 40 volunteers and staff will keep vigil to watch the panda around the clock, with the aide of a series of 38 cameras set up inside the giant panda habitat. more ›

As part of its ongoing efforts to breed a new panda cub, the National Zoo artificially inseminated Mei Xiang back in January (but only after they let Tian Tian have a go at doing it the old fashioned way). Today zoo officials say they have detected a rise in Mei's progestagen levels, which means we're now just 40 to 50 days away from discovering whether it worked. At the end of that time period, she'll either give birth, or we'll know for sure that this was just another pseudopregnancy. 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 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 ›

Mei Xiang couldn't have timed it better if she tried. Just as Washingtonians were preparing to wish our final goodbyes to our beloved Butterstick, Tai Shan's mom quite surprisingly went into heat yesterday afternoon, and her and 'Stick's dad, Tian Tian, wasted little time getting to work, as seen above. 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 ›

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 ›

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 ›

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. more ›

We got pretty excited when we noticed the National Zoo had added some video to the DCist Videos pool titled "Giant panda breeding season starts early at National Zoo." Had the Zoo just hand delivered us footage of Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, you know, doin' it? Sadly, the closest they get is just after the 1 minute mark, when the two adult pandas kind of paw at each other a little. After that, the video tragicially cuts away without showing any acción. We suppose that since Mei had to be quickly artificially inseminated because "competent mating did not occur," that could mean that there was simply no hot panda love footage available. Still, we're disappointed. more ›

Owing to "this year's unusually early onset of reproductive activity," the District's two beloved giant pandas were at it again this week. Zoo officials recently noticed that Mei Xiang -- who usually experiences her prime ovulation (and hence, the one really good shot she has at conceiving every year) in March or April -- had increased levels of hormones in her urine. That, combined with "distinctive vocalizations" and other such flirtatious behavior, led experts to initiate the complicated business of panda mating. 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 ›

Good morning, Washington. Think good thoughts for Tian Tian, the National Zoo's male giant panda and the biological father of Tai Shan/Butterstick. Tian Tian underwent eye surgery yesterday to remove inflamed tissue from one of his third eyelids. He's expected to make a full recovery, but in the meantime he'll have to live with the shame of being the one to expose this whole pandas having third eyelids monstrosity. DCist has always held a firm editorial stand that pandas are adorable, but after learning this fact we may have to convene our board to reconsider. more ›

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. more ›

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... more ›