Aug

We promised we wouldn’t say it, but we just have to…it’s Pandamonium!

Giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo 5:32 p.m. Friday, August 23. The panda team heard the cub vocalize and glimpsed the cub for the first time briefly immediately after the birth. Mei Xiang picked the cub up immediately and began cradling and caring for it.

Behavior watchers have been monitoring her 24 hours a day since Aug. 7 via the panda cams. The panda team began preparing for a birth when they saw her water break around 3:36 p.m. and she began having contractions. Mei Xiang started spending extended amounts of time body licking and cradling her toys Aug. 11, all signs that she could give birth.

“I’m glued to the new panda cams and thrilled to hear the squeals, which appear healthy, of our newborn cub,” said Dennis Kelly, director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. “Our expansive panda team has worked tirelessly analyzing hormones and behavior since March, and as a result of their expertise and our collaboration with scientists from around the world we are celebrating this birth.”

Mei Xiang gave birth to a second, stillborn cub on August 24. Keepers watching Mei on the panda cam saw her groom it for 17 minutes. When she stopped grooming, it fell from Mei’s body onto the floor of the den. It lay motionless and made no sound. Throughout, staff could see the first cub and hear it squealing. Mei never set it down. Staff retrieved the motionless cub with a grabbing device. It was immediately evident that the cub had developmental abnormalities and wasn’t fully formed. It was never alive. A necropsy is underway. Mei’s first cub continues to do well.

Sunday morning, the panda team was able to give the cub its first neonatal exam. The cub is robust, fully formed, and is a bright, healthy shade of pink. It weighs 137 grams, which is about 4.8 ounces. Its heart rate is steady, and vets were able to hear breathing sounds from both lungs. It’s belly was nice and full, its mouth was normal, and it was obvious that the cub is both nursing and digesting. All signs are that we have a very healthy, active, vibrant cub. The cub’s sex will not be known for some weeks. Li Guo, lead giant panda keeper at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, is at the National Zoo supporting the giant panda keepers. Li and the Zoo’s panda team will perform health checks every few days during the next week. The panda cams will be briefly turned off when the team performs the health checks.

The giant panda cub born 5:32 p.m. August 23 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo received an exam from animal care staff at 8:56 a.m. August 25.
The cub weighs 137 grams (about 4.83 ounces). Chief veterinarian Suzan Murray reports that the cub is robust, has a steady heartbeat, a full belly (is nursing well), and has successfully passed fecals.
Zoo officials do not yet know the cub’s sex. Animal care staff obtained a DNA sample. It will take approximately 2-3 weeks before the sex is known. (Photo by Courtney Janney)

National Zoo scientists detected a secondary rise in Mei Xiang’s urinary progesterone July 10. The rise indicated that she would either have a cub or experience the end of a pseudopregnancy within 40 to 55 days. In the weeks since, keepers and veterinarians have monitored Mei Xiang closely. She has exhibited behavior consistent with a pregnancy or pseudopregnancy since the end of July. Veterinarians had been attempting regular ultrasounds to monitor changes in her reproductive tract and look for evidence of a fetus since late June, but Mei Xiang chose to stop participating in them several weeks ago. The only definitive way to determine if a female is pregnant before she gives birth to a cub is to detect a fetus on an ultrasound. Mei Xiang’s last ultrasound was Aug. 5, during which veterinarians saw no evidence of a fetus.

Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated twice March 30 after natural breeding attempts with the Zoo’s male giant panda, Tian Tian, were unsuccessful. A team of Zoo scientists and veterinarians, including Tang Chunxiang, the assistant director and chief veterinarian of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at Wolong, performed the artificial inseminations. During the first procedure she was artificially inseminated with a combination of fresh semen collected from Tian Tian and frozen semen collected from Tian Tian in 2003. The second procedure was performed with frozen semen collected from Tian Tian in 2003 and frozen semen collected from the San Diego Zoo’s male giant panda, Gao Gao, in 2003. National Zoo scientists will perform a paternity analysis in the coming weeks to determine which male sired the cub. This is Mei Xiang’s third cub born as the result of an artificial insemination.

The panda team expects Mei Xiang to spend almost all of her time in her den for the next two weeks with her newborn cub. The David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat has been closed to the public since Aug. 2, and will remain closed until further notice to provide quiet for Mei Xiang and her cub. Both will be visible on the panda cam. Visitors can see Tian Tian in his outdoor habitat and on the panda cam.

Mei Xiang gave birth to her first cub, Tai Shan, July 9, 2005. Tai Shan was born as a result of artificial insemination and now lives at the Panda Base in BiFengxia in Ya’an, China. Mei Xiang gave birth to her second cub born as the result of an artificial insemination Sept. 16, 2012. Six days after her birth, the giant panda cub died from liver damage caused by underdeveloped lungs.

Visit the Zoo’s Flickr page for more photos.