You’ll Need Ticket to See Baby Panda

WASHINGTON – Outsiders will get their first peek at the National Zoo’s baby giant panda starting next week.

The zoo began distributing a 600 timed entry tickets at 9 a.m. EST Tuesday to members of its booster organization, Friends of the National Zoo. They were all taken by 1 p.m., a spokesman for the organization told The Washington Post.

Ticket holders will get to see the panda cub on 11 dates, starting Monday and running through early December. The zoo was to make tickets for an additional three days of viewing available to FONZ members on the Web site starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday. The organization has about 80,000 members.

The cub, Tai Shan, was born July 9. He is expected to make his official public debut in early December, though no date has been set. The zoo hopes to start issuing free timed-entry tickets this month, on its Web site, on a first-come, first-served basis.

Officials believe the FONZ membership viewing will help the cub, his mother, Mei Xiang, and zoo staff get used to having crowds parade through the Panda House, which has been closed since the cub’s birth.

The zoo last month began letting small groups of employees, donors and VIPs view the cub for brief periods.

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On the Net:

Friends of the Zational Zoo: http://www.fonz.org