USA: Giant Panda in Washington's National Zoo gives birth to a long-awaited cub.

Record ID: 867529

  • Title: USA: Giant Panda in Washington's National Zoo gives birth to a long-awaited cub.
  • Date: 17th September 2012
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (FILE) (REUTERS) FEMALE GIANT PANDA MEI XIANG EATING BAMBOO INDOORS
  • Embargoed: 2nd October 2012 13:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Environment
  • Reuters ID: LVA9MU5UEO0XZHE57X4A7P93H9AO
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  • Story Text: The panda, Mei Xiang, gave birth late on Sunday (September 16) at Washington's National Zoo. The popular giant panda was artificially inseminated in April using thawed frozen sperm from the zoo's other giant panda, Tian Tian, after he failed to impregnate her.
    Smithsonian Zoo director, Dennis Kelly told reporters on Monday (September 17) the years of trying to breed the panda were finally a success. "This is the effort of six years of trying, six years of science and six years of effort to go into this important birth" Kelly said.
    The two giant pandas are on loan from China, where as few as 1,600 of the black and white bears live in the wild, and are among Washington's top attractions. Although they have delighted crowds of visitors to their complex, they have produced only two cubs in their 11 years in Washington.
    The pair's last cub, Tai Shan, was born in 2005 and lives in China, where pandas are an endangered species.
    Dr. Pierre Comizzoli, the reproductive physiologist at the National Zoo was elated that the efforts of the reproductive team had finally paid dividends.

    "As you can see, nature is fantastic and the world is full of good surprises, but obviously, surprise comes after long efforts like we have done here at the National Zoo."
    Zoo officials said the panda cub weighs approximately four-ounce (112-gram) and would fit in the palm of a hand. The small cub can barely be glimpsed as the 250-pound (113-kg) mother Mei Xiang cuddled it.
    Dr. Brandie Smith, the Senior curator of mammals at the National Zoo said Mei Xiang was taking good care of the cub.

    "We haven't had that many good sightings if the panda cub, but we have been able to monitor the cub's health basically by listening to it and by monitoring Mei Xiang's reaction to her cub, so we hear the cub squak and we see Mei Xiang's react immediately."
    The zoo is giving Mei Xiang complete seclusion and will monitor her and the cub via closed-circuit camera about two weeks.
    The cub may be ready for a live appearance in a couple of months. The link for the pandas' camera is: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/default.cfm?cam=LP2
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