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New York Times
6 days ago
- General
- New York Times
Leopards on the Potomac! Trump Is Delighted by Deal With Saudis for Rare Cats.
Of all the splashy announcements that marked President Trump's trip to the Middle East last month, there was one that delighted him in a way that was different from the rest. It had nothing to do with money or military might. It had to do with cats. Big, rare, glamorous, killer cats. Perhaps you missed it; there was a lot going on. When the White House put out its 'fact sheet' highlighting the various investments it claimed to have secured in Saudi Arabia, there was one line, buried way down low, that stood out: the 'creation of a dedicated exhibit in Washington' for 'the endangered Arabian leopard.' The Smithsonian had spent months trying to get its paws on a pair of Arabian leopards, and now the Saudis are agreeing to send two of them to live at the National Zoo as part of a conservation program. A proper habitat will need to be constructed, and the exact pair of leopards has yet to be chosen, but if all goes according to plan, the cats will make it to the capital city while Mr. Trump is still in office. Brandie Smith, the director of the Smithsonian's National Zoo, spoke briefly with Mr. Trump about all this and said that he was 'very interested in the leopards as a species.' Most of all, she said, he wanted to learn about the leopards' 'personality.' Ms. Smith traveled to Saudi Arabia last month for the announcement. She was there at the royal palace in Riyadh when Mr. Trump arrived on the first day of his trip. Foreign dignitaries, business titans and muckety-mucks of various other stripes had lined up to shake hands with Mr. Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of the kingdom. When the two leaders reached the end of this very long line, they met the zookeeper. She explained to them why she was there. 'As soon as I said leopards, I saw both of them, their attention popped,' she recalled in a recent interview from her office back at the National Zoo. She said that Mr. Trump had many questions about the leopards: 'Like: 'How big are they? What do they eat? How dangerous are they?' That kind of stuff.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
South China Morning Post
21-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Chinese pandas over local wildlife? Malaysians debate cost of hosting a new pair
As pandas Fu Wa and Feng Yi return to China after more than a decade in Malaysia, the public is questioning the cost of hosting a fresh pair of the endangered bears – money which could be spent instead on protecting endangered local wildlife and supporting the beleaguered national zoo. Malaysia , home to an estimated 170,000 species across its ancient rainforests, rivers and seas, is one of only 17 'megadiverse countries' labelled as such by US-based environmental organisation Conservation International for housing most of the Earth's species. More than 1,100 animal species in Malaysia are listed as threatened, from the Malayan tiger and tapir to the Bornean orangutan. Pandas Fu Wa and Feng Yi, who arrived in 2014 on loan from Beijing as part of their 'panda diplomacy' programme, were hailed as a conservation success, producing three cubs over seven years – a rare feat for pandas in captivity. Giant panda Feng Yi enters a quarantine lair at the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda on Sunday after leaving Malaysia. Photo: Xinhua Housed in a purpose-built, climate-controlled enclosure at Kuala Lumpur's National Zoo, the pair drew steady crowds but also criticism over maintenance costs.
South China Morning Post
21-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Chinese pandas over Malaysian wildlife? Malaysians debate cost of hosting a new pair
As pandas Fu Wa and Feng Yi return to China after more than a decade in Malaysia, the public is questioning the cost of hosting a fresh pair of the endangered bears – money which could be spent instead on protecting endangered local wildlife and supporting the beleaguered national zoo. Malaysia , home to an estimated 170,000 species across its ancient rainforests, rivers and seas, is one of only 17 'megadiverse countries' labelled as such by US-based environmental organisation Conservation International for housing most of the Earth's species. More than 1,100 animal species in Malaysia are listed as threatened, from the Malayan tiger and tapir to the Bornean orangutan. Pandas Fu Wa and Feng Yi, who arrived in 2014 on loan from Beijing as part of their 'panda diplomacy' programme, were hailed as a conservation success, producing three cubs over seven years – a rare feat for pandas in captivity. Giant panda Feng Yi enters a quarantine lair at the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda on Sunday after leaving Malaysia. Photo: Xinhua Housed in a purpose-built, climate-controlled enclosure at Kuala Lumpur's National Zoo, the pair drew steady crowds but also criticism over maintenance costs.
Bloomberg
19-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
DC's Smithsonian Loses Triple-A Rating After US Credit Downgrade
The Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum complex boasting 21 museums and the National Zoo, has lost its top-tier credit rank from Moody's Ratings just days after the firm stripped the US government of its last triple-A rating. The organization's downgrade to Aa1 from Aaa reflects the 'material funding and government linkages between the Smithsonian and the United States government,' analysts led by Dennis Gephardt said. 'The relationship with the federal government leaves the Smithsonian vulnerable to federal government budget shutdowns or delays and links the credit quality to that of the US government.'
Washington Post
18-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
New pandas show ‘encouraging' mutual interest, National Zoo says
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' baas, 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!'
