Bei Bei, the National Zoo’s Giant Panda cub whose name means “precious treasure,” took his first steps this week.
In a video released Wednesday by Smithsonian’s National Zoo, mother Mei Xiang (whose name means “beautiful fragrance”) watches her baby boy take his first strides before scooping him up in a bear hug.
The bond between mother and baby has proven strong through the loss of Bei Bei’s twin shortly after birth, in late August. Bei Bei’s father Tian Tian is a 264-pound male whose name means “more and more.”
The zoo wrote in its YouTube post of the footage, “One small step for panda … one adorably wobbly moment for all of us.”
The panda baby has been a source of public fascination since his name was revealed back in September with the help of First Lady Michelle Obama and Chinese First Lady Peng Liyuan.
