Footage of giant panda birth at the Smithsonian's National Zoo
As panda cam watchers may have noticed: from Mei's behavior and the sounds we're hearing, we have a giant panda cub!
As far as we can tell, the cub was born at about 10:46 p.m. on
September 16. According to chief veterinarian Suzan
Murray:
"Mei
Xiang is behaving exactly the same way she did when
Tai Shan was born. She is cradling her cub closely , and she looks so tired, but every time she tries to lay down, the cub squawks and she sits right up and cradles the cub more closely. She is the poster child for a perfect panda mom."
We believe there is only one cub
. If the cub is to have a twin, we should know by sunrise.
For now, the only way animal care staff will monitor the cub is using the web cams. Our goal is for Mei Xiang to raise this cub naturally. With Tai Shan, it wasn't until h
...