I couldn’t pick a favourite moment from my trip to Wolong Shenshuping because honestly there were so many good ones – but Bao Li would be in the running for highlight of the day! Next up to share is Bao Li 宝力 – where to even begin about him?! Well he must have been a recent addition to this enclosure, because the name sign was of a different panda, but everyone seemed to know it was him. He was firstly famous for being the son of Bao Bao 宝宝, being born in 2021, and known on social media for being super adorable and playful. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a panda as active as Bao Li! Just a week after I was home from this trip, Bao Li was announced as the new male panda to be travelling for a 10-year stay at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington DC, his mum’s birthplace. How special! I was just so thrilled to have seen him and the panda fans in DC are in for such a treat – I only saw him on one day and he was playing to the public and just being an all-round sweet boy. He’s also super adorable, very distinctive and photogenic.

He was very popular when I was there, likely because he was so active – you can see in the video I posted to Instagram, so playful and cute^ This was quite near the start of the day, just after 9:30AM, and he was running around and making a great attempt to demolish trees for at least 15-20 minutes. I went back later and he was still full of energy, having a good explore and trying to get up another tree. Honestly the plastic barriers weren’t a deterrent at all, he just took them in his stride to get into the tree (hope the DC trees are ready for him!). I can’t wait to see him grow up, hopefully he retains some of his energetic and playful nature as he becomes an adult, and I can’t wait to travel to DC to see him again hopefully very soon^