Baby giant panda Xiao Qi Ji took his first steps on Thanksgiving, the National Zoo announced today.
That’s right: while you were eating dry turkey on Zoom, the baby panda was very busy achieving his most adorable developmental milestone yet. Luckily, the Giant Panda Cam captured the three-month-old cub’s inaugural steps. After a short struggle, the pint-sized bear tucks his squat legs under his squat body and begins waddling towards mom Mei Xiang. He quickly topples over, rolling towards the massive mama bear. If you look closely, she appears to be smiling. We can only assume she’s beaming with pride.
Take a look at Xiao Qi Ji’s first steps:
Daniella Byck joined Washingtonian in 2022. She was previously with Outside Magazine and lives in Northeast DC.
