Mei Xiang, the giant panda at Washington’s National Zoo, surprised staff at the facility over the weekend by giving birth to a pair of twins less than five hours apart, and adding two new members to the population of one of the world’s most endangered species.
According to Reuters and NBC Washington, the newborn twins are healthy and active, nursing, and even vocalizing as of early Monday morning. Mei Xiang, who had been artificially inseminated, was seen picking up and licking her first cub at 5:35pm Saturday. The second cub was born shortly after 10pm that evening, zoo officials noted.
In keeping with the zoo’s practice, they will be swapping out the cubs with Mei Xiang, helping her to adjust to life with her newborns by allowing her to care for one while the other is placed in an incubator. Dr. Don Neiffer, chief veterinarian at the zoo, told reporters that the panda mother was nursing her cubs and had thus far been “the perfect mom.”
The second cub, which was the first retrieved by zoo staff, weighed about 138 grams and was doing well. The first cub was smaller at slightly more than 86 grams (three ounces), which was within acceptable parameters. It was said to be very active, reportedly trying to crawl away from vets during its exam.
The father remains unknown – should we call Maury Povich?
Dr. Neiffer told Reuters that the first few hours after the pandas’ birth were the most critical for the cubs, as they had nearly no fur. During this time, they are “not able to thermo-regulate very well and they need to constantly be receiving some calories,” he explained. While most of their nutritional needs will be handled by their mother, they will receive supplements as needed.
In keeping with tradition, the cubs will not be named until 100 days after their birth in a naming ceremony, zoo officials told NBC Washington. The newborns will join their two-year-old sibling Bao Bao at the zoo, marking the first time that the facility has ever had both newborns and an older cub at the same time.
Mei Xiang has previously given birth to four cubs, two of which survived: a male, Tai Shan, who was born at the zoo in 2005 and now lives in China, and Bao Bao. One of her female cubs died in 2012, and another, Bao Bao’s twin, was stillborn. The National Zoo’s Tian Tian was the father of all four cubs, and was one of two pandas whose sperm was used to impregnate Mei Xiang this time. It is not known if he or Hui Hui, a panda in China, is the father of the new cubs.
According to Reuters, giant pandas have a very low reproductive rate, especially when they are in captivity. There are about 300 of the creatures currently living in captivity and another 1,600 living in their natural home, the mountain ranges in central China.
(Image credit: Smithsonian National Zoo)
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