Giant panda News

Last night at 6:15 p.m., Mei Xiang left her den. She climbed up the rockwork mountain in her adjoining exhibit, urinated, and returned to the den at 6:18. It's normal for bears not to eat, drink, urinate, or defecate much in the early days of raising a cub. This morning, she drank a little diluted...

Last night, Mei Xiang left her den at 10:37 p.m. to get a drink from the water in her enclosure for the first time since the cub was born. She drank for about two minutes before returning to the den and the cub. The panda team got a good look at the cub in the den and it looks great. You can see the...

The panda team offered Mei Xiang liquids and food this morning and evening. She was not interested in eating or drinking and remains very focused on her cub. She is an excellent mother. We get better visuals on the cub every day. It continues to look good, and today we got several good looks at its...

This morning, the panda team offered Mei Xiang apple water, a bamboo smoothie, some bamboo, sugar cane and a pear. She was not interested in eating or drinking anything. Keepers are not worried about her lack of appetite: When she had Tai Shan, she did not eat anything until he was 16 days old, and...

Keepers went into Mei Xiang's den again this morning to offer her some food and drink. She drank some water sweetened with a little apple juice, which she has done for the past several days. Food still doesn't appeal to her much, which is normal for a bear that recently gave birth. She didn't touch...

In the early morning hours, Mei Xiang gently placed her cub on the floor of her den. Vigilant panda cam observers were watching at 3:37 a.m., and we're delighted to share the video! You'll see the tiny cub has a round belly which indicates to the panda team that it is nursing well. Also, the cub has...

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 in it or the pear. Although Mei wasn't very hungry, she was thirsty and she...

This morning, the panda team attempted to get the cub for a second veterinary exam. Mei Xiang was more alert and more aware of the keepers' presence today, especially compared with Sunday when she seemed focused on the cub to the exclusion of everything else around her. As opposed to Sunday, today...

This morning, 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...

At 7:29 p.m. this 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...

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...

The panda team at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat has officially started #cubwatch—which is normal for this point in the breeding season. Volunteer behavior watchers have been monitoring Mei Xiang via the panda cams 24-hours-a-day since August 7. Keepers say that Mei's behavior is...

As we continue to watch Mei Xiang in hopes of a new addition to the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat, we have noticed some behavioral changes in our female giant panda. In the past few days Mei has become much less interested in interacting with her keepers, and she continues to be...

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. Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated twice March 30 after natural...

Giant panda fans can tune into the panda cams, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company Fund, at the Smithsonian's National Zoo once again. The cams went dark for upgrades May 30 but will begin streaming live uninterrupted video today at noon. The panda cam system upgrades were designed to maximize the...

We know many of you miss watching Mei Xiang and Tian Tian on our panda cams. We want you to know we're working hard to get them up and running! As with many technical projects, we've hit some unanticipated delays. Primarily, we're having issues with the new consoles and getting the audio system to...

This week's giant panda update, written by keeper Marty Dearie, details how he and other keepers work with Mei Xiang and Tian Tian on training behaviors behind-the-scenes at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat. How do you draw a blood sample from a giant panda? If the panda is Mei...

Maintaining the genetic diversity of giant pandas living in human care is a science?an exact science. SCBI scientist Jonathan Ballou determines how well-represented an individual panda's genes are in the captive population and makes breeding recommendations. In this panda update he explains how he...

We have some exciting news for all of our panda cam watchers! The panda cams, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company Fund, are going to be gradually upgraded. But in order to make the changes the cams will be turned off for a few weeks. The cams will most likely go dark around at the end of May and...

Both Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are returning to their normal routines, following the breeding season. Occasionally, we are still seeing some scent-marking or some restlessness, but their appetites have returned, and both are spending their days exploring their yards independently, with little interest...

This week's Giant Panda Update is from Mike Maslanka, head of the Department of Nutrition Science at the Zoo. It's 6:15 a.m. It's dark and cold outside. Many folks around D.C. are still arguing with the snooze button. But in the morning darkness, the garage door of the Commissary at the Smithsonian...

Reproductive scientists and veterinarians from the Smithsonian's National Zoo alongside Tang Chunxiang, the assistant director and chief veterinarian of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at Wolong performed a second artificial insemination on giant panda Mei Xiang...

Spring has sprung and the giant pandas are breeding again at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Scientists detected a rise in urinary estrogens March 26, in its female giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG). This rise and her behaviors indicated that Mei Xiang was in estrus and ready to breed. A team of Zoo...

Breeding season has arrived! Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are exhibiting behaviors indicating that they are ready to breed; and Mei Xiang's hormones have begun to rise. That rise indicates that she is in estrus. Our giant panda breeding team — including Zoo keepers, reproductive scientists, veterinarians...

This week's giant panda news features a behavior update from keeper, Nicole MacCorkle. Both Mei's and Tian's appetites have decreased a bit this week. Tian is bleating more at Mei (a high pitched contact call), and she is vocalizing back, although her vocalizations are anything but friendly. She...