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Video captures pandas getting flirty at National Zoo, a hopeful sign they'll make cute baby pandas in the future: experts

Video captures pandas getting flirty at National Zoo, a hopeful sign they'll make cute baby pandas in the future: experts

New York Post21-05-2025

Beary romantic!
The US's two giant pandas caused a stir at the Smithsonian's National Zoo Friday after they were spotted flirting with each other — in what zookeepers hope could be a sign of potential panda babies to come.
A video captured the bear pair, Bao Li and Qing Bao, 'bleating' and 'chirping' at one another from either side of a wall through a metal mesh window that is known as their 'howdy' window at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat inside the Washington, D.C. zoo.
Qing Bao in her enclosure at the National Zoo.
Smithsonian Zoo
In the clip shared by the National Zoo, Qing Bao, the female, stood up and put both of her front paws on the 'howdy' window.
The male Bao Li, normally the more talkative of the two pandas, seemed excited by her attention. He pressed his face against the mesh screen and the pandas had a nearly minute-long exchange, the footage shows.
The pair exchanged a series of high-pitched squeals and 'bleats' that panda keepers from the Smithsonian describe as 'like a sheep's 'baa,' but with a higher pitch and longer trill.'
The two love bears have been in their enclosures since January, and the panda keepers have kept a close eye on their behavior.
'Just as we began to wonder whether our bears were entering 'panda puberty,' something exciting happened,' the experts said.
The first positive sign of a connection between them was in April, when Qing Bao approached the 'howdy' window and chirped and bleated at Bao Li.
'A sign that she was very interested in him,' the experts said.
Qing Bao — whose name translates to 'precious treasure,' inspired by the lush mountains of China — is usually more reserved and independent than her counterpart, according to the zookeepers.
Bao Li, meanwhile, is a showman and a loudmouth who's much more likely to 'bleat' than his female counterpart, they said. When his keepers arrive, he often 'bleats' a greeting at them. His name is a combination of the words 'precious' and 'powerful.'
Bao Li in his enclosure at the National Zoo.
Smithsonian Zoo
Zookeepers hope the flirtations could develop into mating and future panda cubs to help repopulate the endangered species. However, both pandas are a few years away from being able to procreate.
Bao Li and Qing Bao join a partnership between China and the US that goes back more than 50 years.
China loans a pair of pandas to American zoos for 10-year spans before the bears are returned to China. If a pair has cubs, the babies are sent back to China to be raised in their natural habitat.
The deal is a show of goodwill between the two superpowers and an attempt to help the endangered species make panda babies.
Qing Bao and Bao Li will live at the National Zoo until April 2034, according to the agreement.
Many of the behaviors the panda keepers saw in Bao Li were similar to his grandfather, Tian Tian, when he was readying himself for breeding; and many of Qing Bao's behaviors mirrored those of Bao Li's grandmother, Mei Xiang, as she approached mating age, experts said.

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The 2001 TV special An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson served notice that he was back in shape. The whole four-hour concert was an unforgettable night of Brian worship: Paul Simon crooning 'Surfer Girl,' Elton John doing the twist with Billy Joel for 'Fun, Fun, Fun,' the Go-Gos bashing 'Little Honda,' David Crosby yowling, 'This is the worst trip I've ever been on.' But Brian stole the show, making a cold, rainy March night in NYC glow with the warmth of the sun. He even went back to the great doomed opus of his youth, Smile. It was rock's most legendary unfinished masterpiece, with outtakes assembled on the 2011 box The Smile Sessions. But the definitive Smile is his fully realized 2004 version, with Brian finally strong enough to do these songs justice, in his sublimely autumnal 'Cabin Essence' and 'Surf's Up.' It peaks with 'Wonderful,' a two-minute reverie about childhood, a fragile tune he'd never had the voice for until now. Once his most infamous defeat, Smile became one of the great artistic triumphs of his life. Good vibrations, indeed. He kept revisiting these songs for decades, always hearing the new stories they were telling as they evolved over time. 'Keep an Eye on Summer,' a deep cut from the 1964 throwaway LP Shut Down Volume 2, took on a whole new meaning when he sang it on his 1998 Imagination, ruminating on how time fades away. In a 2018 radio interview, Al Jardine summed up 'In My Room' beautifully: 'I assumed it was Brian Wilson's personal story about being secluded and lonely and feeling those feelings we all have.' He wrote the last of his classics with 'Summer's Gone,' his finale for the Beach Boys' 2012 reunion, That's Why God Made the Radio. It was a farewell to his lost brothers Carl and Dennis, but as he said, 'It was like 'Caroline, No' also, because I was thinking about younger versions of myself.' Brian sings about watching the waves, maybe on the same beach where he sang 'The Lonely Sea' decades ago. 'Old friends have gone, they've gone their separate ways,' he sings. 'Our dreams hold on for those who have more to say.' 'Summer's Gone' seems to sum up the whole Brian Wilson saga in five bittersweet minutes, transforming grief and solitude into timeless beauty. The damage of his early years could have destroyed him — yet he found a way to transform it into music that will be sung around the world as long as people can sing. His life could have been a horror story — he turned it into a love song. This is a heavy loss for anyone who loves music — it seems the more we talk about him, it only makes it worse to live without him. But let's talk about him. We're all lucky to share in the world he helped create in his music. He turned it into the kind of world where we belong. Good night and thank you, Brian Wilson. Surf's up, forever. 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