Panda Baby!

[visionary]

Looks like the little one will be here two years if he/she survives that long.
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Giant Panda Mei Xiang Gives Birth at Zoo
Updated: Saturday, Jul. 9, 2005 - 11:13 AM

By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Zoo's giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth early Saturday to a squealing, vigorous cub that was conceived through artificial insemination.

The typical cub weighs 3 ounces to 5 ounces and is about the size of a stick of butter. It was too early to determine the gender and exact weight of the cub, zoo officials said, because veterinarians kept their distance, not wanting to interrupt the mother-cub bonding.

Zoo officials were monitoring the pair via cameras in their indoor enclosure, where they will remain for about three months. The public can get a look through the zoo's Web cam _ http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/

Mei Xiang appeared surprised when the cub was born at 3:41 a.m., but soon picked it up and began caring for it, said Lisa Stevens, the zoo's assistant curator for the rare and endangered bears.

"Mei Xiang is the poster child for a wonderful mom," said Dr. Suzan Murray, the zoo's chief veterinarian, at a news conference.

Because Mei Xiang, 6, and her mate, Tian Tian, 7, are on loan from China, the cub will return to China after it turns 2, under terms of the arrangement. The cub probably will be named by Chinese zoo officials after it turns 100 days old, as is Chinese tradition.

The next few days are critical for the cub's survival. Five cubs born to the zoo's previous pair of pandas all died within a few days. But zoo officials said Mei Xiang and Tian Tian were much younger and did not have the health problems that beset the other pair.

Still, Mei Xiang is herself a first-time mother, pregnant through artificial insemination four months ago after the pandas failed to mate naturally. Doctors plan to allow her to care for the cub unless its health becomes precarious and intervention is required.

"The cub came out squealing, so we knew right away we had a nice, healthy cub from that squeal," Murray said.

Tian Tian will continue to go outside the panda's air-conditioned enclosure and roam the outdoor exhibit as usual.

Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, two of the most popular and closely watched celebrities in the capital, are on a 10-year loan from the China Wildlife Conservation Association. In exchange, the zoo is paying $10 million to Chinese conservation projects.

The zoo's previous panda pair _ Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing _ arrived in 1972 as a symbol of U.S.-China detente and quickly transcended politics to become the most beloved attraction at the zoo.

There are as few as 1,600 giant pandas in the mountain forests of central China, according to the zoo. An additional 120 are in Chinese breeding facilities and zoos, and about 20 live in zoos outside China.

Pandas are threatened by loss of habitat, poaching and a low reproduction rate. Females in the wild normally have a cub once every two years to three years.

Hsing-Hsing and his female partner, Ling-Ling, were a gift from the Chinese government just two months after President Nixon made his historic visit to Beijing that reopened U.S.-China contacts.

Ling-Ling died in 1992 and Hsing-Hsing in 1999.

The panda's birth was welcome news for the zoo, where about two dozen animals have died in the past few years.

The embattled director announced her resignation in February 2004 after the release of a report critical of care at the zoo. A National Academy of Sciences panel of veterinarians, zookeepers and others began investigating the zoo in 2003 after several well-publicized animal deaths. For example, two red pandas died after eating rat poison buried in their yard by exterminators trying to get rid of rodents.
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On the Net:

National Zoo's giant pandas: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/

(Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

[visionary]

Newborn panda survives critical first day

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Giant panda Mei Xiang appeared to be nursing her day-old cub on Sunday, a positive sign of survival for a tiny bear susceptible to malnutrition, bacterial infection and even the lumbering of its 250-pound mother.

The National Zoo's first panda cub in 16 years survived its initial 24 hours -- a benchmark for pandas born in captivity -- and continued to emit such a robust squeal that zoo officials were optimistic about the days ahead.

"Everything seems to be going fine," zoo spokeswoman Peper Long said. "But we know that we have several more of those critical time periods to go."

Mei Xiang and her cub, which probably weighs 3 ounces to 5 ounces, have been under round-the-clock watch at the Panda House since she gave birth early Saturday. They will remain in a den for the next three months, segregated from her mate, Tian Tian, as well as visitors to the zoo.

The Web camera at the Panda House offers an online view of mother and cub (Panda camexternal link).

Tian Tian will divide his time between the outdoor yard and an air-conditioned grotto inside the Panda House. He probably is not even aware he is a father, Long said.

The two were separated once Mei Xiang, artificial inseminated four months ago, began showing signs of pregnancy and sought time away from her mate.

Five cubs born at the zoo during the lives of its first pair of pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, died within days of their births. Only two cubs born in the United States -- both at the San Diego Zoo -- have lived to adulthood.

"They're so small and they're so fragile," Long said. "The mother is a 250-, 260-pound bear, so there's a possibility of rolling over on it or something like that happening."

Observing from a camera and listening to audio from the den, the zoo's panda staff believe Mei Xiang is nursing the cub. They are prepared to intervene if suckling fails to nourish the cub, an infection develops or the cub's health is threatened in other ways, Long said.

The first-time mother appears to be gaining confidence and settling in to caring for her offspring, Long said.

"These giants paws that are clawed and part of big-bear physiology are now picking up this very, very tiny, fragile cub and taking care of it," she said. "We just have our fingers crossed that it keeps happening."

The cub, whose gender is yet unknown, will not be named until it turns 100 days, a Chinese custom. Under the agreement that sent Mei Xiang, 6, and Tian Tian, 7, to the zoo in 2000, China retains ownership of any offspring. The cub likely will not be sent to China until after its second birthday, zoo officials said.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
 
 
 
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http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/07/10/panda.cub.ap/index.html