National Zoo Panda Mei Xiang Gives Birth To Cub

You can’t see it yet but you can hear it. There is a new baby at the National Zoo. What a surprise!

The National Zoo’s giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub Sunday night. Zoo staff report they can hear the cub, but have not seen it yet so far.

“We are thrilled that Mei Xiang had a successful pregnancy since 2005,” said Dennis Kelly, director at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, in a press release. “I’m cautiously optimistic as we haven’t seen the cub yet, but we know Mei is a good mother. Like everyone else, I’m glued to the Panda Cam for my first glimpse of the cub.”

According to a National Zoo press release, the cub was born at 10:46pm Sunday. It follows five “pseudo-pregnancies” for Mei Xiang. She gave birth to her first cub Tai Shan in 2005. He was the first cub to survive several days after being born at the National Zoo. He was sent back to China in 2010 per an agreement with China.

This baby will have to return to China in 4 years. Meanwhile, expect to hear lots Panda Fever between now and then. The birth was a surprise…sort of. Mei Xiang was artificially impregnated back in April but veterinarians were unsure if the procedure “took.” The odds of a pregnancy were less than 10%. Mei Xiang began showing signs that she might be pregnant when she started licking and cradling her toys. An average panda pregnancy lasts for a wide range of 90 to 160 days. that gives us a little wiggle room.

The new baby is probably about the size of a stick of butter. No one has seen it yet as the zoo personnel do not want to disturb Mei Xiang.

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