Watching the US news has felt rather depressing as of late – but I think I found the perfect pick-me-up: the Panda Cam at the National Zoo is returning, thanks to two new residents. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is relaunching its popular panda livestream, this time with its two new bears Bao Li and Qing Bao.
The Panda Cam, which first launched in 2001, shut down last year after the zoo’s previous panda residents returned to a panda reserve in China – accompanied by the cub, Xiao Qi Ji, who was born at the zoo and brought so many Panda Cam viewers that it overloaded the stream. In the time since, the zoo has worked to upgrade the David M Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat, fueled in part by another $10 million (around £8 million / AU$16 million) donation from the exhibit's namesake.
