This image automatically refreshes. Click here , if you can't see an image. M ei Xiang and Tian Tian may be the most closely watched pandas in the world, with 20 cameras trained on them 24 hours a day. Motion sensors strategically placed throughout the panda house, inside and out, can detect their every move.
Microphones pick up every bleat or chirp.
All the super surveillance is to help National Zoo researchers track the pandas' behavior and gain a better understanding of how they interact, eat, breed and handle stress. The ultimate goal is to determine how these endangered creatures can move from captivity back to the wild. The National Zoo will share its findings with the zoos in Atlanta and San Diego as well as with Chinese panda researchers. Currently, researchers watch the pandas twice a day for two hours, recording their behaviors each minute. The best time to watch the pandas is when the researchers are watching too.