The Big Feed

The National Zoo is home to 3 Giant Pandas; Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and their 1 year-old cub Bao Bao. As they charm the public, dedicated staff work round the clock to keep them happy and healthy be it growing their own bamboo or creating special treats.

Think feeding your teenagers is tough? Try feeding a hungry pride of adolescent lions every day. The National Zoo cares for animals in all stages of life, including infant red pandas, and one of the most senior seals in the world. For all of them, good nutrition is essential to a healthy life.

Go behind the scenes at North America's largest zoo kitchen, where a team of personal chefs cater to some very picky customers including endangered orangutans, a pack of wolves, and a killer komodo dragon. The kitchen has to serve up just the right dish for each and every one of them.

Talk about healthy appetites! The National Zoo keeps its animals well fed with farm-fresh bamboo and hay by growing its own one of the only zoos in North America to go to this extreme. Its a daily feat tending to hundreds of acres of crops but the zoo is committed to providing the best for its hungry herbivores, like the gorillas, bison and lemurs.

Food isnt just the key to healthy bodies. Its used to challenge and entertain animals, both great and small. For otters, siamangs, and Sumatran tigers, playing with food is one of the most important ways to keep minds, paws and flippers busy and happy.

A herd of Asian Elephants from the Calgary Zoo in Alberta is moving to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. They need to meet, greet, and eat with the elephants who already call the zoo home. That means a lot more food, and a lot more work. Do the zoo-keepers have what it takes to merge these two herds into one big, happy family?