The idea originally stemmed as a little joke actually for the last several years – “We need a Panda”, or “I wish we had a Panda” because of all the tall Bamboo on the common community grounds in one large area. One day I reached out to my childhood friend, Dr. Sharon L. Deem, DVM, Ph.D., Diplomat ACZM, currently, Director of the Saint Louis Zoo Institute for Conservation Medicine. I remembered Sharon has connections with the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in D.C. as she worked there earlier in about 2004-2005 studying, caring & researching, etc with the newly born baby boy Panda. Fast forward to 2021 I texted her and posed the question “Do you think the National Zoo would be interested in some healthy-looking bamboo where I live? We eventually learned through an email introduction I received from other fellow doctors, veterinarians, and researchers at the National Zoo that they were in fact very interested. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute set up a site visit in October 2021 and by December 2021 the Bamboo Procurement Team came out for the first harvest. We learned we, RSHA, has at least two varieties of Bamboo growing here – they are Arrow and Yellow-grew. Not only do the Pandas eat it but several other animals eat the bamboo. The Zoo’s procurement team has been out at least 7 times since then. We are happy to be in this Win-win collaboration.
Note: This article was originally published in Fall of 2021 when the partnership was originally announced. We are reposting it here on the website for the larger audience and our new neighbors.