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A Glorious Glimpse of the Cub
Tai Shan lounges on some rocks during his first public showing, which drew hundreds of admirers to the National Zoo. "If you get a chance to do something historical, it's worth it," said Jean Simmonds of Crystal City, who skipped work to see the 5-month-old cub.
(Photos By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post)
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"And his mother was cleaning him," added Beth.
"He was really cute," Katherine Goodwin said, sighing.
When the first group of timed ticket-holders got in at 11, "he was sleeping," said Staci Albisu of Fairfax Station, who went with her husband, daughter and daughter's friend. "We saw a couple of little rolls."
"Every time there was hope of him moving," said Kirstin Corbett, 24, who also was in that first group, "everyone would start screaming."
So it was until after noon, when Mei Xiang went outdoors. Then the keepers began carrying the cub from the den to the big public room where everyone could get a good look. They do not go near him when mother is there, because she could be dangerous.
As keeper Laurie Perry held the wriggling cub, Tai Shan appeared to give her a peck on the cheek. Cameras went up, flashes flared, parents pushed forward with children on their shoulders. ("I'm like, kiss me again !" Perry said later.)
She put the toddler panda down. Tai Shan played, sniffed the air, sucked his paw briefly and appeared to pay no notice to the people watching him from the other side of the glass. Ten minutes sped by in an instant.
The 12:20 group rushed in. "Ooooooooo," someone said.
"So cute!"
"If you guys could be cooperative with each other -- big guys, let smaller guys see," called out Mo Rouse, the crowd wrangler, who is the zoo's assistant director for guest services.
Tai Shan crawled back to his den, as people applauded, and stayed there for the 12:30 group. Perry brought him out again at 12:40 -- "Go ahead," one mother told her two young children. "Push your way to the front" -- and the crowd moved like an undulating snake from right to left, following the cub as he made his way out of sight. He remained so when the last group of the day walked in at 12:50.
They waited.
Then the cub came into view, in the arms of associate curator Lisa Stevens.
"Awwwwwww!"
"Oh my God. . . ."
"Panda! Panda!"
"Thank you so much," a woman with a toddler on her shoulder told a security guard as she headed out. "We got to see him crawl."
