Giant pandas are literal and figurative icons of the worldwide conservation movement. In the coming weeks, the blind, hairless cub-which is roughly 1/900th the size of its mother-will live on Mei Xiang’s chest, migrating between mammary glands and warm armpits. I am incredibly proud of our animal care and science teams, whose expertise in giant panda behavior was critical to this conservation success.” However, we wanted to give her one more opportunity to contribute to her species’ survival. “Because Mei Xiang is of advanced maternal age, we knew the chances of her having a cub were slim.
“Giant pandas are an international symbol of endangered wildlife and hope, and with the birth of this precious cub we are thrilled to offer the world a much-needed moment of pure joy,” said Steve Monfort, John and Adrienne Mars Director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. The birth was streamed live via the Zoo’s panda cam, and though Mei Xiang and her baby will remain in isolation, spectators can tune into the live stream to watch the pair interact. "The panda team heard the cub vocalize and glimpsed the cub for the first time briefly immediately after the birth."
Mei Xiang "picked up the cub immediately and began cradling and caring for it," according to a Zoo release. The infant panda was born to Mei Xiang (may-SHONG), a 22-year-old giant panda who has been with the Zoo since 2000. The cub, who is currently about the size of a stick of butter, will be named in 100 days. The cub's sex will be determined after neonatal exams are completed at a later date. Eastern Time at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.A healthy giant panda cub was born today around 6:35 p.m. Ĭopyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. Natural breeding attempts between Mei Xiang and the zoo's male panda Tian Tian were unsuccessful, leading scientists to artificially inseminate the female twice on March 30.įollow Jeanna Bryner on Twitter and Google+. Like other giant pandas in captive breeding programs, Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated. Though the stillborn twin was never alive and never fully formed, its mother groomed it for about 17 minutes, zookeepers said at the time. The next day, Mei Xiang gave birth to a second cub, though this was a stillborn. The panda cam is not just a pastime for fans zookeepers were glued to the streaming video in August looking for any signs the mama was going to give birth, which happened on Aug. Even so, zookeepers say she can already push up on her two front legs. And she may be scooting about for some time as panda cubs don't tend to start walking until about 4 months old.
Mei Xiang (may-SHONG) is leaving the cub for longer periods on her own the little one is scooting around the den, eating, drinking, interacting with keepers and even sneaking outside the panda house for short stints without her mama. With fully open ears, the panda cub also reacts to noises in her zoo habitat, according to zoo officials. 4 (Day 4 of the shutdown) the cub's right peeper began to open, and by Oct. She now weighs 5 pounds (2.6 kilograms), which is up from her 3.07-pound (1.39 kg) weigh-in on Sept. The camera may have been dark during the 16-day federal government shutdown, but Mei Xiang's cub has been busy growing up. Ī workaround? Check out the Smithsonian Zoo's app, which streams the panda cam uninterrupted, Murphy said. To help ease the cam deluge, zoo officials have set the connections in a way that allows visitors to sit and watch for just 15 minutes before they have to refresh or the connection is lost. "Within 10 minutes we had reached the maximum number of connections that we can accommodate for the panda cam, so we've been troubleshooting those issues throughout the day."Ī maximum of 850 visitors at any one time can connect to the panda cam, Murphy told LiveScience. "The panda cam went live at 10:36 this morning I believe," said Devin Murphy, communications officer at the zoo in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian National Zoo's panda cam began operating again this morning, but that doesn't mean you'll get to watch Mei Xiang's 8-week-old cub stretch and wriggle about.
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