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Watch the National Zoo's giant pandas slide, frolic in D.C.'s first snow in almost 2 years

Pandas in snow
Posted at 8:28 AM, Feb 01, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-01 17:58:10-05

A large winter storm is bringing heavy snow, rain and freezing cold temperatures to the east coast, from the Carolinas to Maine. It also brought snow to the nation’s capital for the first time in almost two years.

That means a snow day for Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, giant pandas at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

The National Zoo shared a video of the two pandas frolicking, rolling and sliding around their habitat, now covered in a dusting of snow.

Don’t let their childish ways fool you, Mei Xiang is 22 years old, and Tian Tian is 23. Proof that sometimes everyone needs to play in the snow.

They, and others in the D.C. area, will have their chance this week. Snow flurries are expected Monday and Tuesday.

Their cub, Xiao Qi Ji, is not in the video. He is the couple’s fourth surviving cub, and the only one still living at the National Zoo. He is five months old now, and weighs about 22 pounds.

The National Zoo estimates there are more than 1,800 giant pandas living in the wild in China, living in scattered populations. Most giant pandas live to about 15-20 years old, and about 30 years in captivity.