Adorable new panda cub is pictured for the first time... but it's a bittersweet moment as its twin arrives stillborn and mom mournfully hugs and grooms her dead baby
Mei Shang, the Smithsonian National Zoo's female giant panda, had a healthy cub Friday before giving birth to its stillborn twin yesterday
The maternal panda cradled her cub for 17 minutes before letting its lifeless body drop to the floor
Zookeepers were able to examine the cub and say it suffered abnormalities
Officials are optimistic about the health of the first cub following tests today
Joy turned to sadness yesterday after a giant panda gave birth to a stillborn cub at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington, grooming the lifeless cub before finally letting it fall to the floor after 17 minutes.
Mei Xiang (may-SHONG), the zoo's 15-year-old female giant panda, gave birth to a healthy pink panda cub Friday night and zookeepers were eagerly awaiting the possible birth of a twin.
As the first pictures of the dead cub’s twin looking vigorous and full of life are revealed, it has emerged that Mei Xiang gave birth a second time last night - but the twin was born motionless and subsequent examinations showed it suffered abnormalities and died in utero.
Newborn: Zookeepers were able to give the new cub a check-up this morning and say the baby is full of life and seems healthy in every way
Survivor: A vet takes a DNA sample from the new cub to determine who its father is
Newborn: Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub on Friday night at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington
Baby joy: The tiny pink cub, said to be only as big as a stick of butter, could be heard squealing after it was born at the Washington DC zoo
'There is a chance, a 50 per cent chance, that another panda will be born, a twin,' Dennis Kelly, the National Zoo's director on Friday, said Friday.
They had all but given up hope of a second cub when Mei Xiang gave birth to the motionless panda.
The stillborn cub had abnormalities and 'had never been alive,' zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson said in a statement.
'It lay motionless and made no sound. Throughout, staff could see it visually and hear the first cub squealing, and Mei never set it down.'
Zookeepers were able to remove the lifeless cub and saw that the cub suffered abnormalities.
The zoo began performing a necropsy on the stillborn cub late Saturday that they hope will tell them why the cub stopped developing and died in utero, she said.
Protective: Mei Xiang has not put down her newborn cub long enough for zookeepers to examine the baby panda, but there are high hopes for its health
Bittersweet: Zoo workers are celebrating the birth of a healthy giant panda cub while regretting the loss of its twin
Boy or girl: Vets say they won't know the new cub's sex or paternity for two weeks after its first neonatal exam
Worn out: After giving birth twice in two days and losing one of her precious cubs, Mei Xiang is fatigued but attentively caring for her new healthy cub
According to NBC's Today, Mei Xiang had been on a 24-hour pregnancy watch since her behavior became increasingly maternal and she began cradling her toys, licking her body and 'nesting.'
The protective mother only allowed zoo staff close enough to examine the first healthy cub this morning.
Brandie Smith, the zoo's curator of mammals compared the planned exam to a race car pit stop, a fast and highly choreographed checkup before reuniting mom and cub.
The cub's first neonatal exam showed vets it is 'robust, fully formed, and is a bright, healthy shade of pink,' tweeted the zoo.
The zoo's account notes that it weighs 137 grams, which is about 4.8 ounces and that its heart rate is steady.
Vets were able to hear breathing sounds from both lungs and its belly was full, indicating it is nursing.
'All signs are that we have a very healthy, active, vibrant cub,' the zoo's account tweeted.
The check-up will enable vets to determine who exactly is the father of the cub, since Mei Shang was artificially inseminated with sperm from both the Smithsonian Zoo's Tian Tian and Gao Gao, a male giant panda from the San Diego Zoo.
The cub's paternity and sex won't be known until results come in in a couple of weeks.
Who's the daddy? Pictured here are the possible fathers Gao Gao (left) and Tian Tian (right)
Big brother: Tai Shan was born to Mei Xiang in 2005, and was her only surviving offspring until this latest birth
Giant baby: A one-year-old Tai Shan munching on a carrot at the National Zoo
Adorable: Big brother Tai Shan was very expressive for the cameras in 2005
The tiny cub was the third pregnancy for Mei Shang, who tragically lost another cub six days after giving birth last year. Its lungs hadn't fully developed and likely weren't sending enough oxygen to its liver.
She gave birth to a healthy cub, a male called Tai Shan, in 2005.
Visitors to the zoo Saturday said they were excited about another panda cub. Melissa Schmechel, of Alexandria, Virginia, said she spent about 30 minutes Friday watching the zoo's online panda cam after it was announced on Facebook and Twitter that Mei Xiang had gone into labor.
She said she and her family had made plans to visit the zoo last year after the birth of Mei Xiang's second cub and were sad when it died./size]
'Hopefully this will have a better outcome,' she said as her 11-year-old daughter, Laura, hugged a newly purchased stuffed panda.
發表於 2013-8-24 08:23 AM
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發表於 2013-8-25 11:51 AM
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發表於 2013-8-28 06:30 AM
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Giant baby: A one-year-old Tai Shan munching on a carrot at the National Zoo
