The most famous residents of the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., celebrated half a century of panda diplomacy with China on Saturday, marking the milestone with a cake made from frozen fruits and vegetables.
It's now been 50 years since the pandas first tumbled, chomped, flopped, waddled and wrestled their way into the hearts of Americans.
"It's 50 years of one of the world's most successful conservation programs," said National Zoo director Brandie Smith. But those early heartbreaks led to some crucial discoveries. In 2000, the zoo's second pair of pandas — Mei Xiang and Tian Tian — arrived in D.C., and scientists began learning more about their reproductive systems.
"Now we literally track the hormones," Smith added. "So we watch the hormones change. And we can pinpoint to the minute when the best time for this panda to reproduce is."A team of Smithsonian scientists, veterinarians and Chinese colleagues performed two artificial inseminations on Mei Xiang March 30. Mei Xiang gave birth to Bao Bao Aug. 23 at 5:32 p.m.
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