Panda Cub's Birthday Present: A Name

The zoo's previous panda pair produced five cubs, but none lived longer than a few days.

Giant pandas are an endangered species, with about 1,600 in the wild. The World Wildlife Fund said the Chinese government, aided by zoos that exhibit pandas, has worked to restore the panda habitat and increased the number of giant panda reserves from 13 in the 1990s to about 60 today.

Tian Tian and Mei Xiang arrived at the zoo in December 2000 under a 10-year, $10 million loan agreement with China. The privately raised funds, plus $600,000 to exhibit the cub, are earmarked for giant panda conservation efforts. The cub will be sent to China after his second birthday.

Zoos in San Diego, Atlanta and Memphis also pay China to exhibit giant pandas, and the San Diego Zoo has had two successful cub births. A delegation of officials from China is visiting the zoos and attended yesterday's naming.

National Zoo officials hoped to put Tai Shan on public view next month, but his debut has been delayed because the cub's mother has been reluctant to let him venture out of his den and into the exhibit area.

At his eighth exam last week, Tai Shan measured 25.5 inches and weighed 12.7 pounds. He has become an armful for his mother.

Over the weekend, the cub playfully swatted his mother. When she picked him up, he squirmed in her arms, as if protesting, and swatted her again. "Finally," according to a report from the Panda House, "he just went to sleep -- it seems all that wiggling wore him out!"

The Panda House is closed to the public. But the outdoor yards are open, and Tian Tian and Mei Xiang can often be seen there.

FONZ has long sold panda-related merchandise. Yesterday, it unveiled the new items: toy panda cubs with the name Tai Shan ($12.99) and three styles of T-shirts ($14.95 to $15.95.) FONZ has cub buttons, postcards, mugs, tote bags and other items in the works.

Fujifilm, which is building a new exhibit for the pandas, as well as Animal Planet and USA Weekend magazine helped sponsor the ceremony.

One community sponsor, Whole Foods Market, plans to sell panda cookies to help raise money for conservation efforts.

Front and center yesterday was Rod Sallee, a U.S. Forest Service employee from Harpers Ferry, W.Va. His name was chosen at random from among the panda name voters, and there was a gasp of envy when the crowd learned that he was about to see the cub.

"It was wonderful," Sallee, 61, said afterward. "It's a little fuzzball. . . . They brought it out, and it was crawling around in the hay. It was really exciting to watch it."

Sallee, his wife, Ellen, and several Chinese officials spent about a half-hour in the Panda House, viewing the cub from behind glass.

"It's nice to see the picture, but it's even better in person," Sallee said. "We were not disappointed!"

Staff writers D'Vera Cohn and Lena H. Sun contributed to this report.

For links to webcams of the panda and more information, go tohttp://www.washingtonpost.com/ metro.