WEBVTT - Brandie Smith 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:05.640 There's a great deal of excitement in Washington these days, 0:00:05.640 --> 0:00:08.400 but perhaps the greatest excitement is the arrival of two 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:11.639 pandas from China. I had a chance recently to sit 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:15.120 down with Brandy Smith, who oversees the National Zoo and 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:17.880 oversees the panda program as well, to talk to her 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:21.480 about the pandas. Now we're in the Panda house because 0:00:21.600 --> 0:00:24.640 pandas have returned to the National Zoo. Why are pandas 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:27.000 so popular? I think I read that about eighty percent 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:28.680 of the people that come to the National Zoo come 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:30.880 because they want to see the pandas. I mean, they're 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:32.720 nice animals, but why are they that popular? 0:00:33.080 --> 0:00:34.640 I think there are a lot of reasons. I think, 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.440 first of all, they're cute. They're adorable. People just want 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.280 to see them. And the thing I love about pandas 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:43.559 is the way that they're built. It actually, we are 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:47.959 genetically designed to love pandas. They have these round features, 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:51.520 the round ears, the round eyes, these cute voices, and 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.880 what we ping when we see a baby is the 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:58.120 same thing that pings when we see a panda, and 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:02.760 so we're designed to think they're adorable. But they're also 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:05.600 they're rare so I think it's a matter of having 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.280 the opportunity to see them. You take the opportunity when 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:11.880 you can. And you know, pandas are a story of joy. 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:15.119 They're a story of hope and of happiness and success, 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:17.400 a successful program that everyone is a part of. 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:19.200 When did you get the new pandas? 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:22.840 So these pandas came in October of twenty four, so 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:23.760 just a few months ago. 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:25.759 And how old are they. 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:28.640 They're both three years old. The pandas are here not 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:31.600 just because they're adorable, but they're actually part of a 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:35.960 breeding program that's helping to save the species. And so 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:40.560 we wanted to get the most genetically valuable animals, and 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.280 we narrowed it down to a few pairs. But I 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:46.200 will say we sent a veterinarian to China just to 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:48.600 check the records of the different animals, and we did 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:50.040 ask them to pick the cutest pair. 0:01:50.800 --> 0:01:53.840 As I recall when Richard Nixon went to China when 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:56.440 the famous trip in the early nineteen seventies as a gift, 0:01:57.320 --> 0:01:59.880 Malzi Tung said, here are to pandas, and they came 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:01.720 to the National Zoo, and at that time, I think 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.639 they were the only pandas in the United States they were. 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:07.480 At that time. That was really the start of the 0:02:07.600 --> 0:02:10.400 giant panda conservation program as we know it. 0:02:10.880 --> 0:02:14.480 They were gifts to the country. And subsequent to that, China, 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.720 as I understand it, began a program of lending pandas 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:20.400 or renting pandas to zoos around the world. And I 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:22.520 thought I read that there were like twenty seven zoos 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:24.680 or something like that around the world that have pandas. 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:25.560 Is that how it works. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.200 We received the first pandas they were a state gift, 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:30.960 and then there was the loan program that was to 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:33.280 other zoos, and as part of that program, there's a 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:37.000 conservation fee that zoos pay to China to the panda 0:02:37.040 --> 0:02:39.920 breeding centers in China, and the pandas that we have 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:41.720 now are part of that breeding program. 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:43.960 Was it easy to get the pandas to come back 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:46.800 to Washington, d C. Did the Chinese say, we have 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:48.560 some extra pandas, we don't know what to do with them, 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:49.480 we're going to give them to you. 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:52.560 Well, it was a little more difficult than that. It 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:54.480 probably took us. It was about over the course of 0:02:54.520 --> 0:02:57.760 a year where we had conversations with our colleagues in 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:01.400 China and we were able to get pandas here very quickly. 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:03.760 I think it's a testament to the relationship we've built 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:09.160 over decades, to the conservation success that we've had here 0:03:09.280 --> 0:03:13.000 with our pandas and our panda program. And so it 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:14.919 was a lot of conversations, but I think we always 0:03:15.000 --> 0:03:18.840 knew in the end that we did want pandas at 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:19.640 the National Zoo. 0:03:20.120 --> 0:03:21.920 How big is the National Zoo? How many acres do 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:22.440 you have here? 0:03:22.680 --> 0:03:24.880 So we have two facilities. We have the zoo, which 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:27.280 is in Washington, d c. It's one hundred and seventy 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:30.240 five acres in Rock Creek Park. And then we also 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.679 have a facility called our Conservation Biology Institute, and that's 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:36.440 thirty two hundred acres and it's in front Royal, Virginia. 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:39.160 Now, when I was a little boy growing up in Baltimore, 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:41.560 we had a zoo there and that still exists. But 0:03:41.800 --> 0:03:43.960 the animals always seem to be in big cages. They 0:03:43.960 --> 0:03:45.920 didn't seem to be able to roam around that much. Now, 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:48.800 my understanding is that people that are in charge of 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:51.960 zoos let animals have more freedom and more space than 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:54.400 they used to. But what about the argument that some 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:56.640 people say it's not nice to have zoos at all, 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.160 because let the animals stay in the wild. Wat should 0:03:59.160 --> 0:04:01.320 we have people like me gawking at them all the time. 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:02.440 How do you respond to that? 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:05.440 I love that question because it's asked by people who 0:04:05.480 --> 0:04:09.280 care deeply about animals. And so I'll answer in two parts, 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:12.480 And one is the emotional part about about animals and zoos. 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:15.000 And I always, you know, I think about people who 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:18.080 have pets. Right, people get pets. The most of them 0:04:18.120 --> 0:04:20.960 aren't trained to care for them. They don't know that much. 0:04:21.200 --> 0:04:22.800 They bring them to their house, they have them in 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.400 their apartment, you know, go for walks every so often. 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:29.160 But they know those animals are cared for. They know 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.080 that those animals are happy. They know that they love them, 0:04:32.240 --> 0:04:36.920 and they're loved back. Now imagine that, except imagine that 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:41.480 you have experts, hundreds of experts who are trained in 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:44.240 the care of animals. Right, people spend their entire lives 0:04:44.279 --> 0:04:47.440 caring for these animals with the best nutrition, the best 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:53.440 veterinary medicine, you know, habitats, they're scientifically designed to meet 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:58.000 their behavioral biological needs. And that's animals and zoos. We 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:00.839 know they're happy, We love them. And we know their 0:05:00.880 --> 0:05:01.479 loved pack. 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:04.280 So what is other than pandas. Who are the biggest 0:05:04.320 --> 0:05:07.880 attraction or what are the biggest attraction at the National Zoo? 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:11.159 You know people, we call them the charismatic megafauna. People 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:15.440 love the big animals, the pandas, elephants, lions, tigers, cheetahs. 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.720 But one fact that I think is really funny, the 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:23.240 most searched animal on our website are snakes, and so 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:25.560 I don't know if people are searching them because they 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:27.680 want to see them or if they're searching them because 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:28.760 they're afraid to see them. 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:31.920 Let's go back and talk about the pandas because they're 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.279 so popular and obviously you get a lot of visitors 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:38.159 because of that. So where do pandas come from? Why 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.200 is it only in one place, as I understand it, 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:42.880 where pandas are. You've got two hundred countries in the world, 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:44.600 Why only one country has pandas. 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:48.240 So that's just the area they are indigenous to, kind 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.440 of the cool mountain forests in China, So that's the 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:55.720 habitat that sustains them the best. And pandas Actually they're 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:59.200 obligate bamboo eaters. If they don't eat bamboo they'll get sick. 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.760 So they're very heavily dependent upon having the appropriate habitat. 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:06.600 Now, originally pandas, which were maybe a couple million years old, 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:10.080 we think they used to have a meat diet, as 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:13.159 I understand they were carnivores, but then maybe five hundred 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:16.360 thousand years ago they became herbivores. So I don't know 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:18.720 if that's easy to deal with your stomach. But because 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:22.760 they only eat vegetables or non meat, do they have 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:24.640 enough nutrition to get through the day. 0:06:24.839 --> 0:06:27.599 A lot of people don't realize this pandas are. They're 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:31.200 taxonomically their carnivores, and they are bears. They are true bears, 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:34.400 and they have evolved to take advantage of a more 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.279 plentiful resource. They don't have to chase down their food. 0:06:37.279 --> 0:06:39.760 It pretty much just grows up around them as they 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.520 fit there. So they've evolved special adaptations to be able 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:47.120 to consume bamboo as quickly as possible. But what it 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:51.120 lacks in quality, they make up for in quantity. So 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:54.080 the pandas here at the National Zoo, we feed each 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:57.960 panda one hundred pounds of freshly cut bamboo every single day. 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.000 And if you eat one hundred pounds of food, which 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:04.640 is bamboo every day, one hundred pounds a day. Doesn't 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:06.400 that take a lot of energy? And does that mean 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:08.600 that they sleep a lot? Because they use up a 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:09.400 lot of energy. 0:07:09.200 --> 0:07:12.600 Eating they do, they're digesting, so they spend their times. 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:15.640 I feel like a panda's life is eating, sleeping, and playing. 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.400 So I also think we love pandas because they're living 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:21.960 like our best lives. And so it's so fun to 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:24.320 watch them because sometimes you'll see a panda just, you know, 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.400 bowing through bamboo leaves and they'll actually stop for a second, 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:29.520 and you think it almost looks like they're taking a 0:07:29.520 --> 0:07:32.400 little mini naps. They digest their bamboo before they just 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:33.160 keep eating more. 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:35.840 Now when they pick up the bamboo, and you grow 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:37.960 your own bamboo, right, you don't bring it in from China. 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:40.360 You grow it somewhere in the National Zoo Area. 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:43.600 We actually grow. So we have the facility in Virginia 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.560 thirty two hundred acres. We do a lot of our 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:48.720 research there. All of our labs are there for all 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:51.160 of the conservation and science work that we do, but 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.440 we also grow. We grow all of our own hey, 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:56.000 our own alfalfa, and our bamboo as well. 0:07:56.400 --> 0:08:01.600 Now panda bear has like we have fingers, Panda bear 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:03.840 seems to have like a six finger help them pick 0:08:03.920 --> 0:08:06.760 up the bamboo. Is that an evolutionary trick or something 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:07.960 to help them pick up bamboo. 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.440 It's not really a thumb. It's a modified wristbone that 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:15.280 actually almost it's a flexible wristbone that functions almost like 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:17.240 a thumb as they hold Think about as they hold 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.120 on to bamboo, because bamboo's circular, so if you watch them, 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.440 it looks like they're holding on and it's part of 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:25.360 that evolution from being instead of investing in being a 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:28.200 better predator right and being able to chase down their meat, 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.800 they invested evolutionarily and being the best bamboo eater you 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:33.640 can imagine. 0:08:33.800 --> 0:08:36.800 Now, there's a problem that pandas have in that there's 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:39.400 so few of them. It was for a long time 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.880 that panders were thought to be an endangered species. Now 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.760 they're called vulnerable. But how many pandas are there in 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:45.520 the entire world. 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:49.280 So this is incredible because this is all due to 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:52.520 this panda program, and this is so important. So when 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.920 we started with giant pandas fifty years ago, there were 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.880 fewer than a thousand pandas in the world. Right, we're 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.240 talking in the wild and ze fewer than a thousand 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:06.319 and decades later, there are close to two thousand pandas 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:08.160 in the wild. Now, actually you think a little over 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:12.079 eighteen hundred. There are over seven hundred pandas in breeding centers. 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:16.559 So as part of this program, we have tripled the 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:17.760 number of pandas on the planet. 0:09:17.760 --> 0:09:19.840 It's still a small number of pandas, it's. 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:22.679 A small number. But what we're also doing, and this 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:25.000 is what I love about the Panda program. People come here, 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.600 they see the pandas, they're cute, it's great. But when 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.360 they contribute, when they buy a stuffed panda or a 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:34.160 T shirt or something, they are actually funding our conservation efforts. 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:36.920 So not only are we breeding pandas, not only are 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:40.240 we learning more about giant pandas, but we're saving their 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:43.600 habitat in the wild. So when this started, there were 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:49.520 probably just ten about ten small little reserves where pandas 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:54.120 could live. There are panda reserves in China three times 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:58.280 the size of Yellowstone. So because of this program, there 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:02.000 are more pandas on the planet, more quality panda habitat 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.520 in the wild, and pandas have gone from being endangered 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:05.400 to being vulnerable. 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:07.800 Now. One of the problems that pandas have and the 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.880 reason they're so few, is that their ability to reproduce 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:13.520 is the most limited, it seems, are the most challenging 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.680 in the entire animal world. So I think the female 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.320 panda can reproduce only a short period of time, maybe 0:10:19.360 --> 0:10:21.679 one day a year or something like that. So the 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:23.440 male has to show up at the right time, right, 0:10:24.040 --> 0:10:25.360 and how does that work? 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:29.240 Well, it's actually really interesting. So the males. The female 0:10:29.280 --> 0:10:33.000 has a very narrow window where she's reproductively viable, but 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:36.240 the males go through something called rut, so it's much longer. 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:41.520 So basically for months that could overlap multiple females estrus. 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:45.720 The males are basically they're looking for a mate, so 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.960 they are they're scent marking, they're patrolling, they're covering a 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:53.560 large territory. And what they're really doing is they're both 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:56.400 looking for a mate and they're advertising to females that 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:59.160 they would be a great father to their cubs. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.640 So many VIPs I soon call you up and say 0:11:02.679 --> 0:11:05.040 I'd like to come bring my grandchildren, my children. I 0:11:05.040 --> 0:11:07.200 want to come myself to see pantas. You get a 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:07.560 lot of that. 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:09.839 So there are a lot of people who want to 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.360 see giant pandas. And the thing I love the most 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:15.240 is we are part of the Smithsonian and so everyone, 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:18.040 no matter how VIP you are, you can come here. 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:19.480 You can see giant pandas for free. 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:21.440 Let me ask you how one becomes the head of 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:23.840 the National Zoo. Let's talk about your background. 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:28.800 So where did you grow up in Indiana, Pennsylvania. It's 0:11:28.840 --> 0:11:32.840 in western Pennsylvania, small town we had. I had a 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:36.640 rural delivery address and most of my relatives are coal miners. 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:38.640 So when you were growing up and you're a little girl, 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.320 did you play with dolls or do you play with pandas? 0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:45.439 I didn't have pandas, so stuffed animals, and you know, 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:48.200 our neighbors had cows, so I'd always go over and 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:50.920 you know, you know, feed the cows, and you know, 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:53.280 see my friends who worked at who lived on farms. 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:55.959 So you told your parents you want to be a 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:58.640 National Zoo director? How did you let your parents know 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:00.640 that you wanted to be are you? Are you trained 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:01.559 as a zoologist? 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:06.720 So I actually I was a young girl interested in science, 0:12:06.840 --> 0:12:09.920 you know, in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania, and 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:12.480 I thought that if you wanted to be a scientist, 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:14.440 that meant you were a doctor. And I thought that 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:17.640 was my only career path. And I actually got it. 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:21.880 My undergraduate degree is in biology, and you know, I 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:23.800 thought about it and I thought, this isn't what I 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:26.719 want to do. I want to work with animals. So 0:12:26.920 --> 0:12:29.800 I was about to start an internship with an ophthalmologist 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:34.000 and I called the Pittsburgh Zoo and I just said, 0:12:34.080 --> 0:12:36.439 I want to do what you do. Tell me, how 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.000 did you get this job? And because this was, you know, 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:41.560 back in the day, the guy said, he said, actually, 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.800 I'm on my way to interview for a summer intern 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:47.600 and I'll interview you right now, and if you do well, 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:51.960 I'll hire you. And so I got the job and 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.880 I went home and I told my mother that instead 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.360 of doing an internship with a doctor, I was going 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:01.960 to intern as a zoo keeper. And well, we were 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:05.240 driving at the time, so one is, she almost drove 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:07.480 the car off the road, but the other it was 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:10.040 the first time I ever heard my mother swear, and 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.240 she said, she's like, at least do something respectable with 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:14.360 your life. Be a lawyer. 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:17.480 Okay, so you get this internship and you obviously must 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:18.800 have liked it. So then what happened? 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:21.720 I always tell people I never made a smart career 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:24.000 choice in my life, so I always just kind of 0:13:24.000 --> 0:13:28.000 followed my heart, and I did the internship at the zoo. 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.640 The thing I love about zoos is not just that 0:13:30.720 --> 0:13:35.680 they educate and inspire people, but they are unique conservation organizations. 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:38.720 There are species that exist on the planet today because 0:13:38.720 --> 0:13:41.160 of zoos, because we care for animals and can breathe them. 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:45.959 Blackfooted ferret, Panamaanian golden frog, simitar horned rigx, California conders. 0:13:45.960 --> 0:13:48.920 The list goes on. And so I was really fascinated 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:52.400 with the idea of genetically managing how we manage these 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.600 species genetically so that they're saved for the wild. I 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:59.960 got a master's degree in zoology that focused on genetic management. 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.000 Then I got a job in another zoo, I did 0:14:03.000 --> 0:14:06.280 more internships, I got my PhD, and eventually I ended 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:06.680 up here. 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.920 All right, so you've got your PhD in zoology. 0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:13.280 It's a program at University of Maryland. It's called behavior, Ecology, 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:14.520 Evolution and Systematics. 0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:16.520 So and then you get a job immediately there after 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:17.520 at the National Zoo. 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:19.440 Well, actually I had a job. I was the head 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.560 of conservation and science for an organization called the Association 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.600 of Zoos and Aquariums. So we set kind of conservation 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:29.040 goals for zoos, accredited zoos across the country. It's an office, 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:32.720 it's an association, and I just really missed. I missed 0:14:32.720 --> 0:14:35.760 being in a zoo. I missed the animals. We create 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:38.400 magic for people on a daily basis, and I missed 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:39.040 being part of that. 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:40.960 So how many zoos are there in the United States? 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:44.760 So there are about twenty five hundred licensed animal exhibitors 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.880 in the United States, But then there's also an accrediting 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.040 program by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, and I 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:54.000 think under two hundred and fifty zoos are accredited, So 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.960 less than ten percent of zoos in the country are accredited, 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:58.560 and those are the best of the best. 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.560 So the most famous in the United States were the biggest. 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:03.960 I would think leaving the National Zoo a side is 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:06.000 the San Diego Zoo Is that the biggest? Actually? 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:08.840 So, I do think it's the most well known zoo. 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:11.440 A lot of people are very familiar with that zoo. 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:14.240 Over the years the National Zoo is not the only 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:17.040 zoo in the United States that's had pandas, right, and 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:20.640 so I thought there were at one point four San Diego, Memphis, Atlanta, 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:22.760 and Washington. They still have. 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:25.200 Them now as part of the loan program started at 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:27.400 roughly the same time, so a lot of the pandas 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:29.880 were kind of moving through in cohorts, and so a 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:32.920 lot of zoos in the past two or three years 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:36.480 their pandas were older and returned to China. And so 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:39.160 right now only the National Zoo and the San Diego 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:40.120 Zoo have giant pandas. 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:42.320 So go back and finish up on your career. So 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:45.360 you're working at this association and you now say, I 0:15:45.400 --> 0:15:47.560 really want to be with animals directly. So then did 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:48.920 you apply to the National Zoo. 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:52.560 Yeah, there was an opening for a general curator. It 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:55.280 was more of a curator of mammals, and it was 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:59.360 also the curator of giant pandas. And so my story 0:15:59.360 --> 0:16:01.800 actually came full circle because when I got the job 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.720 here and I was in charge of the giant pandas, 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:05.920 my mother was so proud. 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:08.440 Did she come to visit the pandas? Ever? 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:09.160 Oh right away? 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:12.000 So all right, So then you were the head of 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:15.360 the mammal program, including that the pandas. When did you 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:17.960 become the head of the National Zoo itself the whole head? 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:20.880 At first I was essentially curator of mammals and curator 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:24.520 of giant pandas, and then after a few years I 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.160 became the head of Animal Care, so I saw all 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:32.120 of the animals, the veterinarians, nutrition, wrecords, behavior, all of 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:36.440 the departments. And then eventually I became deputy director, and 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:38.120 then a few years later I became director. 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:42.160 So if you walk around and did she the pandas, 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:43.240 did they recognize you? 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:45.760 It is one of the saddest movements of my life. 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:47.920 When I was curator of giant pandas and I was 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:50.480 here all of the time, the pandas knew who I was. 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:52.840 They recognized me or at least my voice, and I 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.000 could call their name and they would show an interest. 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:59.120 But as director, I don't. I'm not with them every day. 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:01.400 I'm not the ringer food and love and happiness. 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:04.199 So today, how many different species do you have at 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:05.000 the National Zoo? 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:11.200 We have about three thousand animals from about three hundred 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:12.440 different species. 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:15.400 And how many professionals do you have working here. 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:17.320 At both locations. We've got about four hundred people. 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.480 And how many people come a year to the National Zoo. 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:24.640 So just under two million people come every year. And 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:28.359 we actually we only had one year without Giant Pandas, 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:31.840 and what we noticed was that our attendants actually dropped 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.360 twenty percent when Giant pandas weren't here. 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:36.960 What did you do when COVID came? Nobody showed up? 0:17:37.000 --> 0:17:39.920 Then, right, we didn't have any visitors, but we had 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:43.120 to keep working. So if we're responsible for the living collection, 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:46.240 I'll actually never forget that moment because the world is 0:17:46.280 --> 0:17:49.560 closing down because of COVID. And our team gathered in 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:52.000 our line in Tiger Building and the offices there have 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:54.840 this kind of bunker like feel, and we were there 0:17:54.960 --> 0:17:58.280 and we said, okay, what do we do? And everyone's concern. 0:17:58.640 --> 0:18:01.240 The concern wasn't I can't go home. The concern was 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:03.200 what happens if I get sick and I can't take 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:06.400 care of my animals? And so we had animal care. 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.400 We had a team and b team that didn't cross, 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.680 so we could always have someone who could be there 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:13.920 to take care of the animals. 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:16.920 Now does a China say if you have two pandas 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:20.040 that they've rented to you, and there's a baby panda 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:22.600 that they owned the baby panda, or do you own 0:18:22.640 --> 0:18:23.560 the baby panda? 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:26.120 So they own all pandas. But this is a good 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:30.000 thing because the majority of pandas live in China. And 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:34.080 so again we're not producing pandas just because we went 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:38.040 to although it's wonderful. These pandas are all part of 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:41.040 a conservation program. So if a cub was here and 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:43.320 it grew up here, it can't breed with its parents, 0:18:43.720 --> 0:18:46.000 and so the cub returns to China so that it 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:48.080 can be part of the breeding program. 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:51.440 When a baby is let's say, has some fur and 0:18:51.480 --> 0:18:55.400 can see and hear, a human can pick that baby up, right, 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:57.560 I mean, let's say in a zoo or a control setting, 0:18:57.720 --> 0:19:00.840 you're allowed to pick up a panda a small a size. 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:02.320 But is that right? 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:06.119 We do wellness checks on the cubs soon after they're born, 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.240