Giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao make public debut at National Zoo
Female giant panda Qing Bao eats bamboo in her enclosure at the National Zoo on January 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Giant pandas Bao Li and Qing Bao made their long-awaited public debut at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C., ahead of Lunar New Year next week.
Bao Li and Qing Bao, both 3, are emerging from quarantine and are featured in the newly relaunched giant panda cam, which consists of 40 cameras that will be operated live between the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET.
The superstar pandas traveled from China and arrived in the U.S. on Oct. 15, 2024. National Zoo members had the opportunity to see the pandas in a special preview held between Jan. 10 and Jan. 19, a period that gave the giant pandas time to acclimate to their new home.
“Bao Li and Qing Bao have already won the hearts of our staff and volunteers, and we are excited to welcome panda fans back to the Zoo — the only place in the nation where you can see giant pandas for free — and celebrate the newest chapter of our giant panda breeding and conservation program,” Brandie Smith, the John and Adrienne Mars Director of the National Zoo, said in a news release.
“They’re very active and they’re just a lot of fun and obviously super cute,” zookeeper Mariel Lally told ABC News previously about the two pandas.
The National Zoo will host a series of public events and programs celebrating the giant pandas between Jan. 25 and Feb. 9, including a Lunar New Year event. Some Washington, D.C., hotels are even offering panda-themed packages with amenities such as stuffed toy pandas, roundtrip transportation to the zoo and panda-themed beverages.
Panda enthusiasts can see the giant pandas for free at the National Zoo, the only zoo in the U.S. where visitors can see the animals free of charge.
(CHINA BAR, Calif.) — A 16-year-old teen was rescued from a 50-foot deep mine shaft in Northern California on Monday after the rope he was using to climb back out of the hole snapped, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The teen was saved after attempting to explore a mine shaft located in the Auburn State Recreation Area near China Bar, officials said.
At approximately 3:27 p.m. on Monday, Placer County Fire Department and Auburn City Fire Department were dispatched to a medical rescue for a “16-year-old male stuck in a vertical mine shaft approximately 50 feet deep,” according to a press release.
The teenager and his friends traveled about 180 feet into the mine shaft and the side of the mountain to explore and rappelled 40 to 50 feet down using a household rope, Cal Fire said.
Upon their ascent back, the rope broke, and the victim fell about 30 feet back to the bottom of the shaft. He attempted to free climb his way back up, but “ultimately lost strength and positioned himself in a precarious ledge awaiting rescuers,” officials said.
Once crews arrived on the scene, the teen’s friends led rescuers to the victim. The Placer County Technical Rescue Team was able to successfully save the teen using a “lightweight, complex rope system and established air monitoring,” Cal Fire said.
The victim was immediately taken to a local trauma center for treatment.
Cal Fire applauded the Placer County rescue team as they were able to “facilitate this technical rescue in a very confined and austere environment 180 feet inside of the mountain.”
“The incident highlights the unique natural hazards ever present within our beautiful and rugged landscape in Placer County,” Cal Fire said. “Our commitment to public safety in these diverse scenarios using highly trained special operations team is paramount in our service to the public.”
The name of the rescued teenager has not yet been released.
Photo by DAVID PASHAEE/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images
(LOS ANGELES, Calif.) — The destruction caused by the Eaton Fire in Los Angeles County, which has destroyed more than 14,117 acres across the region in the last week, is threatening Altadena’s rich and diverse history that captures the plight, success and perseverance of the local communities of color.
The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy, a nonprofit founded by Indigenous groups who have called the now-greater Los Angeles basin their home for thousands of years, was given back some of its land at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in Altadena in 2022. However, the Eaton Fire has left part of the recently acquired land significantly damaged.
The organization credits traditional ecological knowledge for having “nurtured the land” and aided in its protection, with plans to continue recovering the land with native plants and practices.
“Our immediate focus is on assessing the full extent of the damage, supporting our neighbors, and collaborating with local partners to ensure community recovery,” said the organization in a statement. “We will provide ongoing updates as we work toward healing and rebuilding the Conservancy and surrounding areas.”
Los Angeles County is battling wildfires across 45 square miles of the densely populated county, leaving thousands of structures damages, thousands of residents displaced and at least. 25 people dead.
The destruction has also impacted decades of progress for other communities of color in the region who settled in Altadena, which is now 41% white, 27% Hispanic, 18% Black and 17% multiracial.
In the 1960s, a combination of urban renewal, white flight and the political movements of the time caused rapid demographic shifts in the Altadena region, according to Altadena Heritage.
The end of widespread discriminatory redlining practices made Altadena a place where Black, Hispanic and Indigenous residents looking for a home could find a bargain.
The town became home to several iconic Black figures, including Sidney Poitier, the first Black actor to win an Oscar, prominent author Octavia Butler, artist Charles White, abolitionist Ellen Garrison Jackson Clark and others.
Veronica Jones, president of the Altadena Historical Society, says Altadena offered “more opportunities away from what the city [of Pasadena] offered children of color at that time.”
Many of those who lost homes in the fire are from families that have been in Altadena for generations.
One of those residents is Kim Jones. For Jones, Altadena has been her family’s home for four generations; she says her family moved to Altadena due to racism and segregation in the South in the ’60s.
Jones says speaking about the heartbreak of losing everything is her attempt to be “the family historian” now that the material memories are gone.
She said her grandmother, who had a home on Lincoln Avenue, was one of the first Black families in the neighborhood.
Kendall Jones, Kim’s son, lost memories of his father, who passed away two years ago, in the blaze.
“Part of me is devastated that all that is gone and the memories of him, but at the same time, I’m also hopeful that my family can rebuild and move past this because no matter what, we’re still alive and no one got hurt, and that’s the most important thing,” he told ABC News.
Kim Jones said her 52 years of memories were in the house – “I have pictures from my childhood. Kendall has pictures. My mother had a tiny cabinet and dishes that were her grandmother’s. Jewelry. I had photos from my grandmother, who had lived with them before she passed.”
Earnestine Brown-Turner also lost her home in the blaze. She had evacuated to her daughter’s Los Angeles home, which is in an evacuation warning zone. When Brown-Turner was packing to evacuate, she took little with her and expected to return with her home intact.
When she and her family came back, everything was gone: “We kind of still had the hope as we were driving up the neighborhood, but there was no neighborhood left,” said Imani Brown-Turner.
The Brown-Turner family had memories from enslaved family members, including quilts and photos. Those are all gone.
As residents process the grief of losing everything they had, concerns about the future hang heavy over their heads. The region had already been experiencing signs of gentrification ahead of the destructive blaze.
Veronica Jones noted that the homes in Altadena now sell for hefty price tags, as Altadena becomes a desired area for new residents at the base of the beautiful San Gabriel mountains.
“The area is starting to be revitalized again,” said Kim Jones. “We want to come back. We want to come back and rebuild.”
As families prepare to rebuild their homes from scratch, she fears some residents will be preyed upon for quick sales of their land: “But there’s no quick sale. There’s no quick sale because California is expensive to live in. I want my family home to be a family home for the next generation and the generation after that.”
(MAITLAND, Fla.) — Marcus Jordan, the son of basketball legend Michael Jordan, was arrested on drug and resisting arrest charges in Florida after he got his vehicle stuck on train tracks, according to an arrest affidavit.
The 34-year-old Orlando resident was arrested shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday in Maitland after an officer saw a blue Lamborghini SUV that appeared to be stopped on railroad tracks, according to the affidavit. The officer notified SunRail, the commuter rail system, to alert that there was a vehicle on the tracks and approached the SUV, the affidavit said.
The officer reported that he smelled alcohol coming from the vehicle and the driver had slurred speech and “red bloodshot and glassy eyes,” according to the affidavit.
Police learned the vehicle had allegedly just fled from a traffic stop initiated by the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office, according to the affidavit.
Marcus Jordan reportedly told the officer that he made a wrong turn and needed help getting his vehicle off the tracks, according to the affidavit. There was a passenger in the vehicle, according to the affidavit.
He allegedly told police he had “some drinks” that night but “repeated he was not over the legal limit,” according to the affidavit.
The officer arrested Marcus Jordan for driving under the influence after conducting field sobriety exercises, according to the affidavit.
A “clear plastic baggie with a white powdery substance” was found inside the front right pocket of his pants that ultimately tested positive for cocaine, according to the affidavit.
Marcus Jordan allegedly refused to cooperate when asked to get into the patrol vehicle, according to the affidavit.
He refused to provide breath samples at the Orange County DUI Center, according to the affidavit.
Marcus Jordan was issued a citation for driving under the influence and charged with possession of cocaine and resisting an officer without violence, according to the affidavit. He was booked into the Orange County jail without incident.
He did not answer reporters’ questions upon his release later Tuesday. Online court records do not list any attorney information for him.
Marcus Jordan is one of Michael Jordan’s five children.
He is a former college basketball player, having played for the University of Central Florida. The affidavit noted his current occupation as self-employed.
