Welcome Home, Bao Bao!

September 4, 2017

Moving from Washington, D.C., to China would be a culture shock for anyone—especially for a 3-year-old panda! Bao Bao was born at Washington’s National Zoo, but last spring she returned to China, where pandas live in the wild. All captive pandas are considered on loan from China, so cubs born abroad must be sent to China before they turn 4.

Since arriving in China, Bao Bao has had to overcome jet lag and a language barrier: Her keepers speak Mandarin Chinese instead of English. She’s even had to swap out her favorite snack, biscuits, for wowotou, a local steamed cornmeal bun. But her new keepers are pleased with her progress and how she’s adapting to her new home.

YOUR TURN

Bao Bao’s flight to China was 14 hours long. After she arrived, she spent 30 days in quarantine to make sure she didn’t bring any diseases with her. Write a ratio in simplest form of the time she spent flying to the number of hours she was in quarantine. Record your work and answer on our Numbers in the News answer sheet.