. >> reporter: brandie smith, who oversees the zoo's panda operation, says the cameras help volunteersgetting warm outside because she is indicating that she's warm. >> right now we're looking at the mother-cub interaction, hoping we can learn from that and hoping we can make more pandas in the future. >> reporter: more pandas because they are a highly endangered species. found only in china, there are only about 1,800 in the wild, and humans have encroached on their territory. >> nope. good boy. all the way in. >> reporter: so the pandas at the national zoo get frequent check-ups, and in a rare behind-the-scenes visit, we got to see how they're trained to cooperate. >> i don't think you're in the middle of the scale. >> reporter: biologist laurie thompson coaxes bei bei to weigh in. -43 pounds. 43.5 pounds. >> reporter: the reward, a sweet potato. >> he's curious about anything new in his enclosure. >> am i allowed to pet him. >> no. >> reporter: yes, these cuddly creature kearse bite, and almost three years and 180 pounds, bow bow, bei bei's sister, does her training through a cage.

. >> reporter: brandy smith, who oversees the zoo's panda operation, says the cameras help volunteerseep detailed logs of each animal's daily activity. >> must be getting warm outside because she's indicating that she's warm. >> right now we're looking at mei xiang and beibei to learn about mother-cup interactions hoping we can learn from that and help more pandas in the species. found only in china there are only about 1,800 in the wild as humans have encroached on their territory. >> no. good boy. get all the way in. >> reporter: so the pandas at the national zoo get frequent checkups. and in a rare behind-the-scenes visit we got to see how they're trained to cooperate. >> i don't think you're in the middle of the scale. >> reporter: biologist lori thompson coaches bei-bichlt to wei weigh in. >> 43 pounds. 43 1/2 pounds. >> reward, a sweet potato. >> he's curious about anything new in his enclosure. >> aim allowed to pet him? >> no. >> reporter: yes, these cuddly creatures can bite. and almost three years and 180 pounds, bao-bao, bei-bei's sister, does her training through a cage. >

the smith road bridge provided shades on the banks of the brandy wine creek. scene at the shore, a nice afternoon in cape may. a couple people actually out there on the sand. >> yeah. >> glen "hurricane" schwartz has the first alert forecast. >> the sun felt good today. what can we expect tonight? >> it's comfortable tonight, but we have rain and even thunderstorms on the way. there's nothing on the radar close by right now, but we do have some, again, that's going to be on the way. the stuff in western pennsylvania, that's not coming our way. that is going to be falling apart. it's this area west of cincinnati, this upper air system coming in tomorrow, and by tomorrow morning, the morning rush is okay, but through the late morning hours, that's when the thunderstorms come through. there we are. 1:30 in the afternoon, that could be heavy rain and thunderstorms, and it moves out in time for the afternoon rush, so this is just a brief thing that's going to be occurring. temperatures now in the 70s. it's warmest in the lehigh valley with the most sunshine, and yo