Baby Panda Twins Born In Washington DC Zoo

– The National Zoo said Saturday afternoon that female giant panda Mei Xiang has given birth to a baby panda cub! Mei Xiang had been artificially inseminated. Pink, hairless and blind, newborn cubs weigh just three to five ounces.

“Last night, I was like, ‘Come on, we’re leaving, let’s go, ‘” she said. Her water broke around 4:30 p.m. She gave birth to two cubs in 2013, although one was stillborn. It was placed in an incubator. A paternity will be done to find out which of the two is the father.

The gender of the cub will not be determined until a later date, and the new cub is now unnamed. The cub retrieved Sunday morning was the first born, at 5:35 p.m. Saturday, said biologist Lori Thompson. Authorities were alerted to the second birth through watching a video feed of the panda habitat. Now, it’s more than 80 percent, zoo director Dennis Kelly said. Neiffer said zoo staff would leave the mother and her cub alone for as long as possible.

The second cub was given a serum drawn previously from Mei Xiang’s blood because it had not had a chance to nurse. People burst into applause and shouted, “Yes! Yes!”

The zoo announced the surprising second delivery by mother Mei Xiang late Saturday, about five hours after kicking off regionwide excitement with news of the first cub. But big sister Bao Bao took the cake, literally, as she turned two today. It died six days later.

The zoo isn’t only ecstatic that the panda gave birth to twins, but they are also happy to have established a template for dealing with similar situations in the future.

However, Mei Xiang lifted the cub up shortly after giving birth and was tending to her new born when officials decided to leave her alone for an extended period. Its lungs hadn’t fully developed. In accordance with an agreement signed between the two countries, the pandas and the cubs they produce in the States still belong to China. “Thanks to all of our wonderful keepers, veterinarians, researchers and Chinese language colleagues who contributed and subsequently deserve credit score for this conservation success”.

While giant pandas give birth to twins 50 per cent of the time, this is only the third time a giant panda living in the U.S. has given birth to twins, according to the National Zoo’s press release.