US panda cub birth brings ‘much-needed joy’
WASHINGTON: Delivering a “much-needed moment of pure joy”, the National Zoo’s giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a wiggling cub at a time of global pandemic and social unrest.
An experienced mum, “Mei Xiang picked the cub up immediately and began cradling and caring for it,” the zoo said in a statement yesterdday. “The panda team heard the cub vocalise.”
Panda lovers around the world were able to see the birth on the zoo’s Panda Cam.
Zookeepers were also using the camera to keep an eye on mum and baby.
“Giant pandas are an international symbol of endangered wildlife and hope, and with the birth of this precious cub we are thrilled to offer the world a much-needed moment of pure joy,” said Steve Monfort, John and Adrienne Mars Director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
He said Mei Xiang’s age – 22 – made her chances of giving birth to a cub slim.
“However, we wanted to give her one more opportunity to contribute to her species’ survival,” he said.
She is the oldest giant panda to successfully give birth in the United States.
The oldest giant panda in the world gave birth in China at age 23.
Mei Xiang has three surviving offspring, Tai Shan, Bao Bao and Bei Bei, that were transported to China at age four under an agreement with the Chinese government.
The zoo has reopened to visitors on a limited basis, but the Panda House is closed.
Mei Xiang gave birth in a small den, where she created a nest out of branches.
Although the place looks tiny for a big panda, the zoo said wild giant pandas give birth in small dens.
“They stay in these dens for about the cub’s first 100 days,” the zoo said on Instagram.
It had given notice earlier in the day that Mei Xiang appeared to be in labour, noting her restlessness and body-licking.
Earlier this week, the zoo, which is part of the Smithsonian Institution, posted an image from Mei Xiang’s ultrasound that confirmed the pregnancy.
“Keep your paws crossed!” the zoo posted, reporting that the fetus was “kicking and swimming in the amniotic fluid”.
“We need this! We totally need this joy,” zoo spokesman Pamela Baker-Masson said when the pregnancy was confirmed. — AP