The National Zoo in Washington says there’s one more panda in the world after its female giant panda gave birth to a cub on Saturday.
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The panda cub was reportedly born at 5:34 p.m., according to The Washington Post and other sources.
One of them is also at the national zoo. Hui Hui, apparently, is an excellent genetic match for Mei Xiang. While panda-lovers were rejoicing over that birth, they had a surprise on their way: the second cub was born at 10:07. “Thank you to all of our excellent keepers, veterinarians, researchers and Chinese colleagues who contributed and therefore deserve credit for this conservation success”. Then around 4:30 p.m., zoo officials confirmed that the panda’s water had broken. It can take some time to determine an infant panda’s gender. The zoo said it could not confirm whether the cub that was removed was the first or second born. “She is restless, having contractions, body licking and remains in her den_all behaviors consistent with an imminent birth”. “We are monitoring Mei very closely through the panda cams and are hoping for a healthy cub”.
News of the birth has caused the National Zoo’s Panda Cam to crash for most users.
Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated about four months ago with semen from two male pandas.
Veterinarians expect Mei Xiang to spend nearly all of her time in seclusion with her cub for the next two weeks.
Earlier in the week, the zoo said that they had detected a panda fetus during an ultrasound on Mei Xiang – mom to 10-year-old Tai Shan and Bao Bao, who turns 2 on Sunday. The pair had five cubs while living at the zoo but none survived.
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“All of us are thrilled that Mei Xiang has given birth”. At birth, a giant panda baby typically weighs three to five ounces – about one nine-hundredth the size of its mother.
