Bao Bao, the National Zoo's giant panda cub, touched a "hot wire" in her enclosure yesterday, before retreating up a tree for some alone time.
Barely a year old, the Giant Panda cub wouldn't come down after getting scared by the electrified wire at the National Zoo, so her mother kept watch at the base of the tree all through the night.
In a Facebook post, zoo officials said the wire is a "safe warning system" used to contain animals inside their habitats, adding that Bao Bao is "perfectly fine."
The cub's reaction to being shocked was to climb a tree where she feels safe, which is normal behavior, zoo officials said.
Bao Bao, who only had her first birthday in August, is "still learning the boundaries of her habitat," the zoo added.
Zoo keepers gave Bao Bao's mother, Mei, access to the outdoor yard overnight and she decided to do what most other mothers would do in the wild: keep watch over her cub. A keeper also stayed overnight in the panda house just in case the pair decided to come inside, the zoo said.
Bao Bao is one of only a hundred Giant pandas alive in captivity around the world, according to World Wildlife Fund. Only 1,400 Giant pandas are believed to still be alive in the wild.
Officials planned to adjust the pandas' routine on Wednesday to give Bao Bao time to calm down and carry on.
And when she does, mother will be waiting.
