Bei Bei, the National Zoo's giant panda cub who was named by two first ladies - Peng Liyuan of China and Michelle Obama of the US - will be ready to meet visitors on Jan 16, 2016.

"The national zoo gets about 2.5 million visitors a year and we know a lot of our visitors make giant pandas their first stop," said by Brandie Smith, associate director for Animal Care Sciences, who oversees care, management and research for the zoo's mammal collection.

Bei Bei, which means "dear little one", weighed just four ounces when he was born on August 22. Now, nearly 4-months-old, he weighs 17.5 pounds.

"Right now, Bei Bei is not ready to go out yet, as he cannot walk. We usually try to make it 5-to-6 months of age. Also he just got his final vaccination," Laurie Thompson, giant panda biologist with the zoo, told China Daily.

Thompson has been working with the pandas at the National Zoo since 1994. "This is my third cub," she said.

"It's definitely difficult to get that [breeding] process going. We have two adult pandas that aren't quite figuring out the breeding positioning correctly, but luckily our artificial insemination works," she said.

Bei Bei's mother, Mei Xiang, was artificially inseminated in April 2015 and gave birth to twin pandas. While Bei Bei was healthy and thrived, his twin brother died shortly after birth.

"It's work that involves a lot of people," said Pierre Comizzoli, reproductive biologist at the Smithsonian Conservation biology Institute, "because we need to monitor the female from the beginning of the breeding season to make sure with the short window that we have the opportunity to have her pregnant."

The breeding season for giant pandas is usually between March and May, according to Comizzoli.

"But the female panda can only be fertilized for two-to-three days once a year," Comizzoli said. "So we use different methods of observation. We have to closely monitor when that will be. We don't want to miss the opportunity."

Mei Xiang will not have a breeding season in 2016, as she is still nursing Bei Bei.

"As long as the baby is still with the mother, she is not going to have a reproductive season. So in 2016, there won't be any breeding season. In 2017, when the baby panda is completely separated from his mother, she will start to have a breeding season again," Comizzoli said.

"They'll probably be together for about a year and a half. We let them go naturally," Smith said.

"Mei Xiang is an excellent mother," Smith said. "She is an amazing mother. She takes care of the cubs, she protects the cubs and she defends them. She plays with them too. So for anybody who comes here when Mei Xiang is playing with Bei Bei, it's a real treat," Smith said.

"Every panda has their different personalities. One of the best things of having panda cubs here is to get to know them as individuals," Smith said.

"Bao Bao was our girl born two years ago. We really describe her as very independent, doing her own thing and kind of likes to be on her own. When we describe Bei Bei, we talk about him being such a boy, rough and tumble, always adventurous," Smith said.

"Tian Tian, the dad, is very laid back," Thompson said. "Nothing upsets him generally. He likes his routine. He basically likes the toys we give him. He likes if it is easy to get the food out [of them]. If it's not easy, he won't waste his energy."

"Mei Xiang, on the other hand, is very careful. When she has toys that have food in them, she takes the time to get every last piece out."

leshuodong@chinadailysua.com

(China Daily USA 12/17/2015 page2)