--- description: Bao Bao came down from the tree in the Washington D.C. zoo sometime on Christmas Eve. title: Smithsonian's Panda Cub Safe For Christmas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe31179751c406bd/6987773de20a87683aa843ba/rtr43h5m.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Smithsonian's Panda Cub Climbs Down From Tree for Christmas by [Elizabeth Barber](/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 26, 2014 4:42 AM CUT  Bao Bao, a 44-pound female panda bear cub, is seen in the panda exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington August 23, 2014. Bao Bao, a 44-pound female panda bear cub, is seen in the panda exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington August 23, 2014.Reuters by [Elizabeth Barber](/author/elizabeth-barber/) ## Elizabeth Barber Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 26, 2014 4:42 AM CUT The Smithsonian National Zoo’s giant panda cub has [climbed down](http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/celeb-panda-cub-bao-bao-descends-tree-in-time-for-christmas-day/2014/12/25/b754b7e0-8c61-11e4-8ff4-fb93129c9c8b%5Fstory.html "undefined") from a tree just in time for Christmas. Bao Bao came down from the tree in the Washington D.C. zoo sometime on Christmas Eve, after touching a “hot wire’ in her yard on Tuesday and scuttling as far as she could get from that wire: up a tree, the Washington _Post_ reports. Panda-cam images from Christmas Eve show the pudgy cub safely on the ground and enjoying a bamboo feast with its mother, Mei. Reverent panda-cam watchers had been alarmed for the 16-month-old’s well-being, though the zoo had said in a statement on Wednesday that Bao Bao’s decision to seek refuge in a tree was “[predictable](https://www.facebook.com/nationalzoo/posts/10152913285937902 "undefined")” and had reassured the public that there was no reason for concern. The zoo said it had stationed a zookeeper in the panda house overnight and had let Mei also spent the night in the outdoor panda yard. “Bao Bao is perfectly fine and like all zoo animals, she is still learning the boundaries of her habitat,” the zoo had said, adding it was “confident that Bao Bao will come down when she is ready.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3647342/smithsonian-panda-cub-christmas-bao-bao/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3647342/smithsonian-panda-cub-christmas-bao-bao/"},"headline":"Smithsonian's Panda Cub Climbs Down From Tree for Christmas","datePublished":"2014-12-26T04:42:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:08:13.907Z","description":"The cub's return to the ground was a relief to her many fans","url":"https://time.com/3647342/smithsonian-panda-cub-christmas-bao-bao/","keywords":["animals","christmas"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe31179751c406bd/6987773de20a87683aa843ba/rtr43h5m.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Elizabeth Barber","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/elizabeth-barber/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfe31179751c406bd/6987773de20a87683aa843ba/rtr43h5m.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Bao Bao is seen in the panda exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington","caption":"Bao Bao is seen in the panda exhibit at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington","creditText":"Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3647342/smithsonian-panda-cub-christmas-bao-bao/","name":"Smithsonian's Panda Cub Climbs Down From Tree for Christmas"}}]}] ```