Meet Bao Li and Qing Bao: The Flirting Pandas Giving Zookeepers Reason to Celebrate
“We would love to be able to have a natural birth from Bao Li and Qing Bao.”
The Smithsonian National Zoo could witness something it hasn’t seen in decades: a natural giant panda birth.
Bao Li and Qing Bao, the zoo’s only resident pandas, are showing early signs of courtship — and their zookeepers are paying very close attention.
“There’s a lot of flirting going on right now,” Mariel Lally, one of the giant pandas’ zookeepers, told TODAY.
Both pandas are 4 years old, roughly equivalent to early human teens. They arrived in Washington, D.C., in 2024 and are expected to live at the zoo for 10 years. Giant pandas reach adulthood and begin breeding between ages 5 and 7, with females maturing faster than males.
How Bao Li and Qing Bao are flirting at the zoo
Giant pandas are naturally solitary animals. At the Smithsonian, Bao Li and Qing Bao live in separate but neighboring habitats and interact through “howdy” windows — mesh screens built into a shared fenceline that let them see, smell and vocalize with each other.
Bao Li is currently in “rut,” the male breeding period that typically lasts November through May. He power-walks and scent marks frequently. He rolls around in front of the howdy window and vocalizes loudly to get Qing Bao’s attention.
“Bao Li, he is amped up. His testosterone is very high and he is very active. He’s scent marking a lot. He’s looking for the ladies. Qing Bao has become very active. She started to look for Bao Li. She usually never wants anything to do with Bao Li, and she’s been vocalizing at him,” Lally said.
Scent marking is how pandas communicate in the wild. A gland under their tail secretes an oily substance that conveys information about the panda’s age, sex and fertility.
Why natural breeding among Giant Pandas is so rare
Female giant pandas are fertile for only 48 to 72 hours per year, a period called estrus. That razor-thin window makes natural breeding extraordinarily challenging.
All of the zoo’s previous panda cubs were born through artificial insemination. But a 2017 study in Biological Conservation found that natural mating has a 60.7% birth rate, compared to just 18.5% for artificial insemination alone.
“We would love to be able to have a natural birth from Bao Li and Qing Bao,” Lally added.
A natural birth would be the first at the zoo in decades. Despite the excitement, zookeepers are not rushing to put the two pandas together since neither has reached breeding age yet.
How zookeepers track Giant Pandas fertility
Hormone levels are tracked through daily urine samples sent to an endocrine lab in Front Royal, Va. Scientists monitor testosterone in Bao Li and estrogen and progesterone in Qing Bao.
Zookeepers listen for “bleating” — a high-pitched sound similar to a sheep’s “baa” — as the key sign that Qing Bao has reached peak estrus. She experienced her first estrus cycle in March and April 2025, followed by her first pseudopregnancy in August and September.
In February 2026, zookeepers noticed physical changes in Qing Bao indicating breeding season was approaching. As of the most recent update, she had not yet reached peak estrus.
Qing Bao has also been trained to participate in abdominal ultrasounds, which would allow pregnancy monitoring in the future. Both pandas take part in voluntary daily training sessions and are rewarded with diluted pineapple and apple juice.
What’s next for the Smithsonian’s Giant Pandas
The zoo’s giant panda conservation program dates back to the 1970s, when China gifted pandas named Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing to the U.S. following President Richard Nixon’s visit to the country.
In 2023, the zoo returned its last three pandas to China. Bao Li and Qing Bao arrived the following year.
Their courtship behavior is an encouraging sign, but the timeline depends on biology. Neither panda has reached breeding age, and zookeepers are not rushing the process.
Fans of Bao Li and Qing Bao can watch their progress on the Smithsonian National Zoo’s giant panda cam, which is live from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET daily.
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