Zoo

Photo courtesy of National Zoo

From the National Zoo:

“The panda team was able to perform another full veterinary exam on the cub today. Mei Xiang is routinely coming out of her den in the mornings to eat bamboo and drink. This morning when she left her den, the panda team closed the door that connects the den to her adjacent enclosure and retrieved the cub.

The exam went very well and the cub has grown substantially since last week. She now weighs 3.07 lbs. (1.395 kg), and she’s 11.4 inches (29 cm) around her belly. At her last exam, Sept. 16 she weighed in at just under 2lbs. and was 9.8 inches (25 cm) wide around her belly. Now she is over 14 inches (36 cm) long. And each of her paws is 1.5 inches (4 cm) long. Veterinarians listened to her heart and lungs, which sound healthy.

The cub is very active and keepers said she is very wiggly and squirmy. She’s trying to support her own weight. Her eyes have not opened yet, and won’t for a few more weeks. After the exam was completed, the panda team returned the cub to the den. When Mei Xiang came back to the den she immediately picked the cub up and started grooming her.”

Photo courtesy of National Zoo

From the National Zoo:

“Mei Xiang has started putting the cub down for longer periods of time! Over the weekend and this morning when the keepers entered her den to continue their den training routine, Mei placed the cub on the ground and focused on the keepers the entire time. She drank all the diluted apple juice keepers offered her in exchange for participating in the training session – and even seemed to want more after she had finished it. Mei also feels comfortable leaving the cub several times each day to eat and drink in her adjacent indoor enclosure.”

From the National Zoo:

“Mei Xiang and her cub are still doing well! Keepers and veterinarians expect that Mei will begin leaving her den for longer periods of time soon. When she does leave the den for longer periods of time keepers and veterinarians hope to be able to perform another health check on the cub. In the meantime, keepers are continuing to do short training sessions with Mei in her den, and offer her small snack-sized treats for participating.

During the past several days the panda cams have caught some precious moments of Mei and her cub that we’ve pulled together.Thank you to Flickr user dparente for this screen grab of Mei and the cub!”

Photo of Tian Tian via the National Zoo

From the National Zoo:

“Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics confirmed that our giant panda cub is female! A paternity analysis showed that the Zoo’s panda Tian Tian is the cub’s father. Scientists also confirmed the second, stillborn cub Mei Xiang delivered on August 24 was a female and also sired by Tian Tian. The cubs were fraternal twins.

Zoo scientists used two tests to confirm the sex of both cubs. The first test was developed by scientists in China and analyzes a fragment of the zinc finger protein gene. The second test, also using a shorter fragment of the same zinc finger protein gene, was developed by SCBI scientists and veterinarians. They used the second test to verify the results of the initial test.”

Photo via National Zoo

From the National Zoo:

“This morning keepers entered Mei Xiang’s den to offer her food and water. They came with some of her favorite treats — diluted apple juice, a sweet potato and a pear. She licked the sweet potato but didn’t show much interest it in it or the pear. Although Mei wasn’t very hungry, she was thirsty and she drank some diluted apple juice. Female giant pandas usually do not eat or drink much in the weeks after they give birth.

The entire time Mei was drinking she didn’t put the cub down, so keepers didn’t get a very close look at the cub. But they could hear it squawking and it sounded healthy. They also got several good looks at the cub on the web cams this afternoon.”

Photo courtesy of the National Zoo

Update on the Giant Panda cub from the National Zoo:

“This morning [Sunday], 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.

We won’t know the cub’s sex or its paternity for two or three weeks.

At 7:29 p.m. yesterday evening, Mei Xiang gave birth to a second, stillborn cub. 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. Mei’s first cub continues to do well.”

“A cub is born! First photo of the cub, born today at 5:32 p.m.” tweeted by @NationalZoo

From the National Zoo:

“Giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo 5:32 p.m. 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.

For the first time this year scientists used another test developed by the Memphis Zoo which analyzed Mei Xiang’s levels of prostaglandin metabolite (a fatty acid) to narrow the window when she would give birth or experience a pseudopregnancy. Scientists at the Memphis Zoo performed the analysis and determined that if Mei Xiang were pregnant she would likely give birth during the last week of August. If she were not, her pseudopregnancy would have likely ended in early September.

“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.”

From the Zoo:

“Scientists at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo have confirmed a secondary rise in urinary progesterone in Mei Xiang. The rise indicates that she will experience the end of a pseudopregnancy or give birth to a cub in 40 to 55 days.

Since the artificial inseminations the Zoo’s panda team has monitored Mei Xiang closely. Zoo scientists will continue to monitor her hormone levels through daily hormone analyses. Veterinarians are conducting ultrasounds regularly as Mei Xiang chooses to participate in them, to monitor changes in her reproductive tract and evaluate for evidence of a fetus. Giant panda fetuses do not start developing until the final weeks of gestation, making it difficult to definitively determine if there is a pregnancy. It may be too early to detect a fetus.

Keepers are also monitoring Mei Xiang’s behavior closely. She has begun nest building which is consistent with a rise in urinary progesterone. The area of the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat closest to her den will close any day to provide quiet for Mei Xiang, who shows extra sensitivity to noise during the final weeks of a pseudopregnancy or pregnancy. Panda fans can watch Mei Xiang on the upgraded panda cams, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company Fund. The cams in Mei Xiang’s den, where she will be spending much of her time over the next month, have also been replaced with high-definition cameras.”