MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
After a 15-month absence, giant pandas are back on public display this morning at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. WAMU's Justin O'Neill got in before the crowds to preview the pandemonium.
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JUSTIN O'NEILL, BYLINE: Yesterday morning, generators hummed at the entrance of the National Zoo as crews hurried to put colorful touches to signs and fences, and the zoo ready to unveil its two newest stars to the public. But the public didn't want to wait. Henry and Lauren Yu, visiting from Houston, were peeking through the construction fence, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pandas.
LAUREN YU: Someone told us that we could potentially...
HENRY YU: ...Have a panda sighting...
L YU: Yeah, somewhere here.
H YU: ...From back here. Might be on the tree.
L YU: They might be on the tree.
O'NEILL: The zoo's panda curator, Michael Brown-Palsgrove, broke the news politely.
MICHAEL BROWN-PALSGROVE: No, they're inside sleeping right now, so they're not up in the trees at this point. So...
H YU: Ah, OK.
O'NEILL: Brown-Palsgrove says he understands why the public is so enthusiastic about giant pandas.
BROWN-PALSGROVE: I think it's just that round head and those big black patches on their eyes. It's just something about it. People just think they're, like, cute and cuddly. They're not. They're a bear.
O'NEILL: The pair of giant pandas arrived in D.C. from China in the fall, starting months of public waiting. And now, panda fever is about to pitch into full-on pandamania (ph). The zoo has slowly tried to warm the pandas up to the public, letting smaller groups of donors and members visit them before all eyes and the panda cam are on them.
BROWN-PALSGROVE: Qing Bao and Bao Li lived in yards that were available to the public in China. So crowds aren't new to them, but crowds in this space is. And so we really wanted them to feel safe and secure and confident in these spaces before we threw what we expect to be tens of thousands of people at them over the next couple of days.
O'NEILL: Brown-Palsgrove says that if either panda shows any interest in the throngs who show up, it'll more likely be the male, Bao Li.
BROWN-PALSGROVE: Bao Li is very gregarious and outgoing. He really wants to know where the keepers are and what they're doing. Qing Bao is a little bit more reserved. She sort of does things on her own time.
O'NEILL: Are they interested in the crowds?
BROWN-PALSGROVE: Some interest, but they're more interested in eating (laughter).
O'NEILL: The zoo's pandas are the equivalent of teenagers. They eat up to a hundred pounds of bamboo a day to keep them growing strong and healthy. But Brown-Palsgrove says for an animal so interested in food, one of their biggest adjustments to life in the district was getting used to local bamboo.
BROWN-PALSGROVE: Bamboo grows differently in different climates.
O'NEILL: What's the difference?
BROWN-PALSGROVE: Partly, we think elevation and temperature has a lot to do with it.
O'NEILL: The public can visit Bao Li and Qing Bao every day from 8 a.m. As for Henry and Lauren Yu, they're flying back to Houston. But they say they'll still follow along, enjoying the zoo's pandas on social media.
For NPR News, I'm Justin O'Neill in Washington.
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