Aug. 22 (UPI) — Giant panda Mei Xiang, age 22, has given birth to a newborn cub at Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C., caretakers announced.
The birth occurred at 6:35 p.m. Friday, animal care staff witnessed. Mei Xiang immediately began cradling and caring for her cub, a statement said.
Staff were monitoring the giant panda and her cub through the zoo’s panda cams. A neonatal exam will be performed after they are able to retrieve the cub, which could take a few days. The cub’s gender is to be determined at a later date.
“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, director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
“Because Mei Xiang is of advanced maternal age, we knew the chances of her having a cub were slim. However, we wanted to give her one more opportunity to contribute to her species’ survival. I am incredibly proud of our animal care and science teams, whose expertise in giant panda behavior was critical to this conservation success.”
Reproductive scientists performed an artificial insemination on Mei Xiang on March 22 using frozen semen collected from Tian Tian. Mei Xiang turned 22 years old in July.
She is the oldest giant panda in the United States and the second oldest worldwide to give birth, the zoo said. It’s also the first successful U.S. pregnancy and birth of a giant panda that used only frozen semen.
Mei Xiang previously gave birth to three surviving cubs, including Tai Shan, born in 2005, Bao Bao, born in 2013, and Bei Bei, born in 2015. Another smaller twin cub born in 2015 died after being rejected by Mei Xiang, who appeared to prefer the larger twin. Her three surviving cubs were moved to China at age 4 as part of a cooperative breeding agreement with the China Wildlife and Conservation Association.
The current cooperative breeding agreement expires in December.
The zoo has limited its number of visitors and updated its hours as part of COVID-19 precautions.
