China Offers Chicken Soup for Pandas' Stressed Souls

Even pandas need tender love and chicken soup: Chinese zoo officials have been feeding two 3-year-old cubs the hearty stock to reduce their stress. “Hope” and “Greatness” have been worn out by thousands of tourists clamoring for their attention in central Wuhan during China’s weeklong holiday. “They had been getting less sleep,” one official tells AP, “and they had to run around more.”

“We felt it would be good to give them the soup because they were fatigued and had a bit of a shock,” he said. The pandas, which were relocated after the earthquakes in Sichuan province, “loved” the 2.2 pounds of chicken soup—a nod to the Chinese tradition of using slow-cooked soup to boost health. (More panda stories.)