Call & Times

Birth of panda cub provides ‘moment of pure joy’

- By CAROLE FELDMAN

WASHINGTON — Delivering a “much-needed moment of pure joy,” the National Zoo’s giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a wiggling cub Friday at a time of global pandemic and social unrest.

An experience­d mom, “Mei Xiang picked the cub up immediatel­y and began cradling and caring for it,” the zoo said in a statement. “The panda team heard the cub vocalize.”

Panda lovers around the world were able to see the birth on the zoo’s Panda Cam. Zookeepers also were using the camera to keep an eye on mom 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.

Monfort 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 8nited States. The oldest in the world gave birth in China at age 23.

Mei ;iang has three surviving offspring, Tai Shan,

Bao Bao and Bei Bei, that were transporte­d to China at age 4 under an agreement with the Chinese government.

The zoo has reopened to visitors on a limited basis, but the Panda House is closed.

Mei ;iang 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 giant pandas in wild give

birth in small dens. “They stay in these dens for about the cub’s first 100 days,” the zoo said on Instagram.

The zoo had given notice earlier in the day that Mei ;iang appeared to be in labor, noting her restlessne­ss and body-licking.

Earlier this week, the zoo, part of the Smithsonia­n Institutio­n, posted an image from Mei ;iang’s ultrasound that confirmed the pregnancy. “.eep 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 spokeswoma­n Pamela Baker-Masson said when the pregnancy was confirmed. “We are all in desperate need of these feelgoods.”

Giant pandas at birth are about the size of a stick of butter. They’re pink and hairless the distinctiv­e black and white fur markings of giant pandas come later.

The zoo said Mei was impregnate­d via artificial inseminati­on, a process which was heavily affected by precaution­s over the COVID-19 pandemic. The procedure was conducted shortly after the entire zoo shut down on March 14.

The father is giant panda

Tian Tian.

Rather than using a combinatio­n of stored frozen sperm and fresh semen, the zoo inseminate­d Mei ;iang only with thawed-out semen to minimize the number of close-quarters medical procedures. It was the first successful procedure of its kind in the 8.S. using only frozen sperm.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States