The winter storm hammering the East Coast has not brought much joy to residents. Flights have been delayed or cancelled, road travel has been impacted, and many have been cooped up in their homes for days. But there is one resident of Washington D.C. who does not seem to mind the snow. That would be Tian Tian, the giant panda at the National Zoo.
After having a foot or two of snow drop on the nation’s capital, Tian Tian ventured into his outside habitat. The panda rubbed up against a tree before rolling down a small incline in the snow. He then began kicking snow all over himself and acting like he was bathing in the white stuff. Clearly Tian Tian was having more fun in the snow than many of the human residents in Washington.
Tian Tian’s frolicking was captured on video and posted on the Zoo’s Twitter account. The video is barely half-a-minute long, but it has been retweeted over 180,000 times and has received more than 190,000 likes. The video has also made its way to YouTube.
With their thick fur, giant pandas are well suited to deal with cold and snowy conditions. Pandas come from the mountain ranges of Central China. They are listed as an endangered species, with an estimated 1,600 living in the wild and more than 300 living in zoos.