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The most famous baby animal on the planet finally gets a name

  • The Smithsonian’s National Zoo held a vote to select the name of its new baby panda.
  • The name that got the most number of votes was Xiao Qi Ji, which translates to “little miracle.”
  • The baby panda will spend its first four years at the Smithsonian’s zoo before being moved to China.

If you’ve been following the saga of the giant pandas at the Smithsonian National Zoo you already know how excited everyone was to learn that one of the pandas successfully gave birth to a bouncing baby boy roughly three months ago. Now, after a public vote, the tiny panda cub finally has a name.

After an online vote was held on the zoo’s website from November 16th through November 20th, the name that received the most votes was Xiao Qi Ji. The name, which is fitting of Mandarin Chinese origin, translates to “little miracle.” If you’re familiar with the struggle to save the giant panda species, you know how fitting that name really is.


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Giant pandas are a threatened species and are officially considered “Vulnerable” on the conservation status heirarchy, which is just shy of “Endangered.” Efforts to save the giant panda in the wild have gone hand-in-hand with efforts to ensure the species can reproduce in captivity as well. The birth of this new baby panda was a huge deal for nature lovers and panda fans alike, with over 1.5 million visitors tuning in to the live cams at the zoo to check in on the little fella.

“Connecting people around the world with nature, whether in person or in this virtual setting, is a cornerstone of our mission to conserve and protect giant pandas for future generations,” Steve Monfort of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute said in a statement. “Like many who have followed our giant panda cub since his birth last summer, I tune into the Giant Panda Cam from time to time. Watching Xiao Qi Ji always puts a smile on my face. We are grateful that those who share in our joy have helped us pick the perfect name for our panda cub.”

Xiao Qi Ji was born thanks to the cooperative breeding program with the China Wildlife Conservation Association. The zoo explains that all cubs that are born at the zoo eventually move to China at the age of 4. The program is scheduled to end next month, but discussions are already underway that may extend the cooperative breeding program and allow for the pandas to continue to bolster their numbers with the help of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

With any luck, Xiao Qi Ji won’t be the last new baby panda to be born at the zoo, and the species can continue to grow in numbers for years to come.

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