National Zoo

In a move that has angered conservationists and alarmed scientists, Lawrence Small, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, has announced plans to close several of its facilities, including the Conservation and Research Center, a 3,200-acre field station near Front Royal, Va. Part of the National Zoo, which in turn is part of the Smithsonian, the center is internationally known for its work training conservation scientists and restoring endangered species,...

Kids cut school, adults skipped out of work, and even seasoned keepers at the National Zoo in Washington couldn't help but get swept up in the panda-monium this week as Tian Tian and Mei Xiang, those cuddly black-and-white bears, were introduced to an adoring public. The pandas, whose sprawling, $1.8 million renovated home nearly rivals the cost of the Washington abode recently bought by Bill and Hillary Clinton, are expected to more than pay for their keep: Their playful presence is expected to increase the number of visitors to the zoo by 20 percent annually.

WASHINGTON - The city's newest stars made their debut at the National Zoo yesterday, two ready-for-prime-time pandas working the public like a pair of Washington professionals. Romping across a grassy lawn right on cue, they submitted to countless photo sessions, soaked up applause and waited to be adored. (It didn't take long.) The opening of the giant panda exhibition formally introduced the nation to these new celebrities, who, like stage divas, immediately began chewing up the scenery.

Somebody has to be president, alas. Forget Florida. Pandas have returned to the National Zoo and all is right with the world. TV program note: DAG is not JAG. Charging tolls at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge the same as other bridges wouldn't solve all of Maryland's traffic problems. Only some of them. The British Museum finally put a lid on it.

In Washington China approves lending of pandas to National Zoo Chinese officials in the United States announced yesterday that the government in Beijing has given final approval to lend two giant pandas to the National Zoo. As outlined in a letter of intent signed April 7, the deal calls for the Smithsonian Institution, which operates the zoo, to donate $1 million a year for 10 years to China to rent the pandas. China will retain ownership of the new pandas, as well as any offspring.

Police arrested a 16-year-old district high school student yesterday and charged him with carrying out the shooting at the National Zoo, seizing what they call their only suspect one day after gunfire turned the national tourist attraction into a horrifying crime scene. As the arrest took place, one of the victims, an 11-year-old boy who was shot in the back of the head, remained in critical condition. The boy was one of seven children who were wounded by gunfire after a fight broke out between two bands of teen-agers at the zoo's annual African-American family celebration.

WASHINGTON -- Police arrested a 16-year-old district high school student yesterday and charged him with carrying out the multiple shooting at the National Zoo, seizing what they called a lone suspect one day after gunfire turned the tourist attraction into a horrifying crime scene. As the arrest took place, one of the victims, an 11-year-old boy who was shot in the back of the head, remained in critical condition. The boy was one of seven children who were wounded by gunfire after a fight broke out between two bands of teen-agers at the zoo's annual African-American family celebration.

WASHINGTON -- On the afternoon after, the Panda House at the National Zoo was stone-cold silent and empty. The last of the zoo's two celebrity pandas, Hsing-Hsing, had been put out of his pain Sunday by lethal injection, by zoo keepers who knew they could not keep the creature one more day.The skin and skeleton of the 28-year-old panda will be on display early next year in the rotunda of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. The panda's tissue and organs will remain at the zoo for study.

RECENTLY, MY wife and I and our 8-year-old visited the world-famous National Zoo in Washington, where we saw firsthand why it has earned the singular distinction: "More Ice Cream Stands Per Acre Than Any Other Zoo on Earth." Actually, this is a wonderful zoo and we arrived just in time (9: 30 in the morning) to see the cheetahs being exercised. The way this works is that the cheetahs begin with some light calisthenics -- jumping jacks, push-ups, that sort of thing -- and then play a little two-on-two basketball.