On Saturday, 5-month-old panda cub Bao Bao made her public debut. The National Zoo estimates that about 10,000 people came out over the holiday weekend to see the bear, who mostly celebrated by sleeping and ignoring the smartphone cameras inching up on her encased habitat (like all panda cubs, Bao Bao is nearsighted). The more interesting animals to observe at the zoo this weekend? Humans, who broke down into six types.
The Easily Impressed 6-Year-Old Nicole, 6, made her mom, Yolanda Estrada, take her to the zoo this weekend after learning about Bao Bao on the news. Her response to getting a glimpse of Bao Bao sleeping in a burrowed rock: “He’s cute.”
The Disappointed Visitor “Well, that was worth it,” Beth Houser quipped as she exited the panda exhibit Saturday with her two small children. Visiting D.C. from Philadelphia, Houser wasn’t one of the lucky ones who caught the cub in her few waking moments. “I did see a black and white spot. It was just a big lump…[These things] never live up to the hype.”
The Excited Journalist Bao Bao is pretty effective click bait, and seemingly every media outlet in town (as well as some from China) were at opening day to get a piece of the lethargic action. “Sometimes I feel I am as excited as the kids are,” says Nicholas Munson, a student reporter at University of Maryland’s Capital News Service. Like all the other reporters, Munson, who says he is not a morning person, was up early Saturday to capture the first cub shots. “For the panda, anything is worth it.”
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