Panda romance? National Zoo’s young pair show signs of affection and bonding

AT THE  National Zoo, the new pandas, still too young for romance, have nevertheless given welcome indications that they are interested in each other, staff members say. The female bleated at the male, and the male bleated back.

For the normally solitary creatures, that meant something. There were other clues, too. All of which seemed to bode well for the possibility that the two pandas on exhibit since the start of the year could become three. In time.

Over the long history of the beloved black and white bears in Washington, their admirers here and around the world have learned of the frustrations inherent in panda breeding programs. So the sonic signals of mutual interest demonstrated recently by the two young immigrants from China seemed especially welcome. Two staff members who worked closely with the animals, giant panda keeper Mariel Lally and assistant curator Laurie Thompson, wrote a Friday update on the pandas’ progress.

The indicators of interest were particularly noticeable given the essentially solitary nature of the animals, which come together only during the brief hours of reproductive possibility. In a nutshell, in late April, the female, named Qing Bao, bleated at the male. And the male, whose name is Bao Li, bleated back. There was also Qing Bao’s chirping. (According to the zoo staffers, a panda bleat sounds like a sheep’s “baa” but with a higher pitch and longer trill.) Beyond the bears’ bleats, more signs emerged of incipient panda affection, or at least attraction.

From the time of the sudden oral outbursts, things seemed to take off. When they were outdoors, the pandas remained near the “howdy window,” the mesh-covered opening between their separate quarters. Unable to touch through the screen, they tried to get as close to each other as possible. “They rolled around, put their paws up and vocalized back and forth-intensely.” the zoo staffers wrote. Qing Bao went further. She pressed her back against the mesh and allowed Bao Li to sniff it. “If one of them walked away, the other ran over and called for them,” said the keepers, calling the gesture “adorable-and a sure sign that our bears’ hormones were changing!” That was confirmed by testing. Hormonal changes are important. They indicate that the female is going through her first biological cycle that permits pregnancy, which the zoo called “very encouraging.” The cycle is short-lived, only two or three days. But it does not mean the zoo can soon anticipate the patter of little panda paws. The two are young and still growing. Also, males mature more slowly than females and generally do not breed before they are 5. The panda pair is a couple of years from that milestone. But even if breeding is a while off, the zoo said, the positive interest they showed “is a great sign for the future!”