Panda stream goes dark amid U.S. government shutdown

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Panda lovers in the U.S. are dealing with bad news – the Smithsonian National Zoo's popular live panda cam went black due to the government shutdown starting Wednesday.

For years, the giant panda cam which streamed pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Bei Bei rolling, playing and chomping on bamboo 24/7 was turned off after the institution had run out of emergency funding, NBC News reported.

Twitter user @jackiefell posted a screenshot of the panda cam hours before it went dark. /Screenshot from Twitter

The National Zoo, together with 17 museums run by the government-administered institution Smithsonian, also closed down due to the government's funding feud.

Screenshot from Twitter

On its official website, the National Zoo explained that the panda cam stopped broadcasting due to lack of federal resources.

"None of the Zoo's live animal cams will broadcast if the Zoo closes for a government shutdown," the institution stated. "The cams require federal resources, primarily staff, to run and broadcast."

Nonetheless, the animals would be continuously fed and cared for, according to the organization.

"A shutdown will not affect our commitment to the safety of our staff and standard of excellence in animal care," said the National Zoo.

Tourists Enrico and Latisha Jacomini from Rome, Italy, look at a map after discovering the Smithsonian National Museum of American History is closed due to the partial shutdown of the U.S. government in Washington, DC, January 2, 2019 /VCG Photo

The partial shutdown, which has cut off many government services, entered its 13th day on Thursday with no end in sight. It stems from an impasse between Congress and the White House over President Trump's demand for funding a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico.

"The panda cam is the last straw!!!!" an angry netizen protested on Twitter.

The National Zoo is one of a host of government-funded national parks, museums and ministries that were forced to close down facing resource deficiency. Hundreds of thousands of federal employees are working without pay.

(With inputs from Reuters)