Succumb to the power of cuteness

Lun Lun’s shadow, not the groundhogs’, foretells fun 

On February 2, Pennsylvania’s Punxsatawney Phil saw his shadow, predicting six more weeks of winter. His counterpart in Georgia, General Beauregard Lee, saw no shadow, predicting a speedy spring. Yawn. Groundhogs, scurry on back to your holes. While you were disagreeing over the forecast, Zoo Atlanta Members and guests saw the little guy that has lately become Lun Lun’s shadow, and the reign of Xi Lan is officially at hand.

Zoo Atlanta has been warning Atlantans for months about the coming of the heartbreaker, the scene stealer and the aww grabber. In August, the Zoo announced his birth. (Hairless, helpless, and weighing just a matter of ounces, he posed little threat.) In October, the Zoo communicated that he was clinically cute, potentially capable of causing public adoration. (Even then, he was barely opening his black-patched eyes.) The Zoo cautioned the city again in December, announcing that the phenomenon had a name: Xi Lan. (Dangerous even then, he had not yet entered the dayroom with Lun Lun.)

The Zoo has tried countless times to notify the city that Xi Lan’s time was coming. Yellow alerts progressed to orange alerts, and now, there is a bright red one, perhaps too late. The conqueror is out, he is about, and the Surgeon General couldn’t put it any plainer. Beware, Atlanta. Visiting Xi Lan is highly beneficial to your emotional health.

Five months old on January 30, the adventurous toddler has entered what is arguably the most unforgettably adorable period in a giant panda cub’s life. Now trying his clumsy paws at climbing, chewing playfully on his mother, and turning everything from her bamboo to their water bowl into a fascinating exploit, Xi Lan is, for the first time, a regular sight at the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Giant Panda Conservation Center. Now that the mother-son duo have completed their test run of their dayroom, Zoo staff have begun gradually increasing their time in the habitat to the point that Lun Lun and Xi Lan are now reliably on exhibit several hours a day.

Forewarned is forearmed, Georgia. Xi Lan will bring a smile to your face, regardless of what the rest of the world’s news tries to do. Give up now. Just don’t blame the Zoo for your new compulsion.

Meet Xi Lan today! Lun Lun and Xi Lan enjoy a panda-friendly climate in their indoor dayroom, rain or shine, regardless of the weather.  

Back to Zoo News