San Diego Zoo’s panda cub Xiao Liwu got to experience snow for the first time on March 19, 2013! A snow carpet was artificially created in their enclosure in hot Southern California.
Here is a blog post by panda narrator Anastasia Horning:
As Bai Yun and the cub came out, Bai Yun went right for the snow, and Xiao Liwu, after a little hesitation, began to run around and get his feet cold. For the pandas, this was a special treat that we attempt to give them when possible, through generous donations. As Bai Yun began to roll and rest in the snow, little Wu began to jump on Mom to roll and play. For about 30 minutes Mom and cub ran and rolled in the snow before the cub began to get tired. He and Mom had so much fun this morning that she completely wore him out, and from about 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. he was sound asleep.
For Bai Yun, this was a break for her to get in some breakfast and lounge in the snow for a nice nap. Bai Yun has experienced snow several times during her stay at the San Diego Zoo. She seems to thoroughly enjoy having the change in her environment. In China, it does snow, so while the pandas are here in San Diego they are a bit spoiled with our nice weather. All of the pandas got snow in their enclosures and got to roll and slide around. What fun it was to watch!
Gao Gao also anjoyed a fun snow day.
Click here for RitaPetita’s Flickr Page to see more pictures.
Source: San Diego Zoo