'Little Miracle' panda cub makes public debut as National Zoo reopens

The National Zoo's 'Little Miracle' panda cub -- Xiao Qi Ji -- makes his public debut Friday as the park reopens since closing last November because of the pandemic.

His name means "Little Miracle." Xiao Qi Ji, the Smithsonian National Zoo's newest giant panda cub, makes his public debut Friday after being born last August to his mother, Mei ­Xiang, who was considered too old, at age 22, to get pregnant. Up to now, because of the coronavirus pandemic, fans have only been able to catch a glimpse of the cub playing and snoozing on the zoo's panda cam -- but with the zoo reopening Friday for the first time since last November -- they now can watch him perform outside, likely climbing, rolling around and munching on panda-favorite bamboo. The cub (his Mandarin name is pronounced SHIAU-chi-ji) weighs about 45 pounds, zookeepers say, a long ways from the tiny, squealing "stick of butter," as cubs are called at birth.