Pandas get new playground at U.S. National Zoo
Source: Reuters
By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. National Zoo unveiled a new home for its giant pandas on Tuesday, featuring waterfalls, shade trees and a water-cooled cave designed with input from the pandas themselves. The panda habitat, which covers almost an acre(4,050 square meters), is the highlight of a new $53 million Asia Trail that also includes rare and endangered species like red pandas, Asian small-clawed otters, clouded leopards and a Japanese giant salamander that can grow up to 5 feet long. The 6-acre (2.4 hectare) Asia Trail exhibit is the biggest improvement in 40 years at an institution that has suffered a string of large animal deaths, including the accidental poisoning of two red pandas. The new panda playground provides a plush home for the zoo's star attractions -- mother Mei Xiang, father Tian Tian, and male cub Tai Shan, born in July 2005. Under a light drizzle on Tuesday, Tai Shan and Mei Xiang climbed trees, chomped on bamboo and scratched each others' backs while Tian Tian lolled in a cave. The pandas have drawn 10 million visitors to the zoo since they arrived in December 2000, director John Berry said. "They're the anchor ambassador," he said. Next up is a renovation of the elephant house and an expansion of their outdoor area, Berry said. Zoo researchers designed the new habitat after seeing which parts of the old one the parents liked best. A grotto cooled by running water under the rock surface made the cut, while one cooled by blowing air did not. The parents are on a 10-year loan from China. Tai Shan is due to return to his ancestral land when he is 2 years old. Giant pandas are an endangered species, with about 1,600 left in the wild, mostly in China. The zoo has lost dozens of large animals since 1998, including two elephants, a lion, a zebra, a cheetah, a giraffe and two red pandas mistakenly killed by rat poison. An investigation found problems with training, workplace culture and planning. The former director resigned in 2004. The zoo has enjoyed successes as well, most notably the birth of Tai Shan after artificial insemination. The zoo has also bred cheetahs, an elephant, clouded leopards and red pandas.
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