Jan. 15, 2021 | KEEPER UPDATE: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/pandastory-playful-panda-cub. Like his mother Mei Xiang, giant panda cub Xiao Qi Ji is careful and cautious when it comes to exploring his environment. Now that he has mastered walking, he has started to practice his climbing skills. He is very deliberate about the paths he takes when traveling up or down the rockwork—more so than siblings Tai Shan, Bao Bao or Bei Bei were. He has taken a few tumbles here and there, but not nearly as many as his brothers and sister did at this age. Luckily, these bears are built to be robust and have thick, wooly fur to cushion their fall.
