WASHINGTON (AP) — A female giant panda at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo is a mother for the second time, giving birth to a cub.
The birth late Sunday by Mei Xiang was a surprise after years of failed pregnancies.
Mei Xiang gave birth at 10:46 p.m., the zoo said. The staff can hear the cub making a squawking noise, but has yet to see it because Mei Xiang has built a large nest in her den. Panda cubs are pink and nearly hairless and about the size of a stick of butter.
“I’m cautiously optimistic as we haven’t seen the cub yet, but we know that Mei is a good mother. Like everyone else, I’m glued to the panda cam for my first glimpse of the cub,” Dennis Kelly, the zoo’s director, said in a news release.
The cub is the second born to Mei Xiang and Tian Tian as the result of artificial insemination.
Mei Xiang’s first cub, Tai Shan, was born in 2005.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less