Smithsonian National Zoo Smithsonian National Zoo News 2015

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National Zoo panda gives birth

National Zoo panda gives birth - CNN.com

National Zoo's Giant Panda, Mei Xiang, Gives Birth to 2 Cubs

National Zoo's Giant Panda, Mei Xiang, Gives Birth to 2 Cubs - ABC News

The zoos twitter is exploding
 
What exciting news. Twins are even better than a single cub in a year where the twins will likely be the only cubs born in North America. Hopefully both make it through these first critical days and weeks. The great thing about twins is that we will get to see tons more shots of the cubs then Mei would allow on the panda cam when they post photos and videos of the twins while in they are with keepers during their twin swap time. It is really interesting to see them turn from pink blobs into adorable baby pandas.
 
Who was the father?

@dcpandafan

I know that at my home zoo, there is a kind of abandoned area that used to house hoof stock, but is now off limits for visitors because they don't have enough $ to renovate it and bring it to modern standards. Instead staff does stuff there like keeping birds off exhibit or storing other things.
 
Happy birthday, Bao Bao! This morning, we celebrated her second birthday with a traditional frozen fruitsicle cake made by our talented nutrition team. They incorporated all of her favorite treats, including: honey, apple juice, apple sauce, bamboo, carrots, and beet juice. For a special birthday enrichment activity, keepers decorated cardboard boxes and placed additional treats within for her to investigate and enjoy. What does Bao Bao wish for on her birthday?

Give a gift to the Zoo’s animals: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/support/giving-tree.cfm

Zoos facebook
 
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Around 6:30 a.m. veterinarians examined the cub Mei Xiang gave birth to at 5:35 p.m. on Aug. 22. Upon exam, this cub is vocalizing well and appears strong. They plan to swap the cubs every three hours if possible. Per the Zoo’s Giant Panda Twin Hand-Rearing protocol, the team has developed a few different strategies and will continue to try different methods of swapping and hand-rearing. Much of that will be dictated by Mei. The panda team will alternately swap the cubs, allowing one to nurse and spend time with Mei while the other is kept warm in an incubator and bottle-fed as necessary. The primary goal for the panda team is for both cubs to have the benefit of nursing and spending time with their mother. It's too early to guess about when the cubs will be placed together.

https://video.fphl1-1.fna.fbcdn.net...=d5e3830db8482015f6325c9b9431ed16&oe=55DA427B

Zoos facebook
 
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ZooElephantsMan said:
Who was the father?

@dcpandafan

I know that at my home zoo, there is a kind of abandoned area that used to house hoof stock, but is now off limits for visitors because they don't have enough $ to renovate it and bring it to modern standards. Instead staff does stuff there like keeping birds off exhibit or storing other things.
Click to expand...

I don't think the zoo will know the father for a while and also it might not be who's the father... but it might be who's the father of each cub? Because of the chance that each cub has a different father.
 
Two Panda Cubs at the National Zoo Present Special Problems

Two tiny giant panda cubs, each weighing about as much as a stick of butter, are the focus at the National Zoo in Washington of an intense, round-the-clock effort to keep them alive, but the odds are against them.

After the zoo trumpeted their arrival on Saturday, the zoo’s staff immediately began to observe the behavior of the mother bear, Mei Xiang, who seemed to struggle with managing two babies.

Every few hours, zookeepers and veterinarians gingerly began placing one cub near Mei Xiang, who then would drop the cub she was nursing to reach for the crying cub. Staff members would then take the dropped cub for evaluation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/s...tional-zoo-present-special-problems.html?_r=0

24twin-articleLarge.jpg
 
Mei Xiang has not been a willing participant in the panda team’s efforts to switch the cubs since 2 p.m. yesterday afternoon. She has the larger cub in her possession. The panda team is caring for the smaller cub and will continue efforts to swap the cubs about every four hours. However, because the smaller cub has been away from Mei, the panda team is now managing it more intensely. The little cub’s behaviors are good. The team is concerned about its fluctuating weight since the cub is now more than 48 hours old. The most important thing for the panda team is to help the cub get enough fluids and nutrients. To accomplish this, they are bottle and tube feeding the cub. The cub has shown some signs of regurgitation which can lead to aspiration in such a tiny creature. To be prudent, the veterinarians are administering antibiotics to prevent possible infection. It’s very important to keep the cub hydrated so they are alternating an infant electrolyte solution with formula and administering fluids under the skin. The cub is urinating and defecating well. The veterinarians have not seen any sign of respiratory distress.
Our observations of the larger cub from yesterday indicate it is doing well and we’re confident Mei Xiang is taking very good care of it. We remain in a high-risk period.
We’ve received a lot of questions about the tiny size of the panda cubs. Bear cubs have the smallest infant-to-mother size ratio of any placental mammal at approx. 1 to 700. Mei Xiang currently weighs about 238 pounds. One of the cubs weighed 86 grams at birth, a 1 to 1,256 ratio of cub to mom. The larger cub weighed 138 grams at birth, a 1 to 783 ratio of cub to mom.
Asia Trail keepers (who successfully hand-reared a sloth bear named Remi last year), additional veterinarian staff and a panda keeper from Zoo Atlanta have been well integrated into the panda team. The entire Zoo community appreciates the outpouring of well-wishes from around the world

Zoos facebook
 
PETA condemns National Zoo for splitting panda twins

PETA is not pleased with the National Zoo.

The animal advocacy organization released a scathing statement Tuesday condemning the National Zoo for splitting the new panda cubs and only allowing one cub to be with the mother at a time.

PETA President Ingrid Newkirk denounced the separation of the twins, born Saturday, calling it a "public-relations fiasco."

PETA condemns National Zoo for splitting panda twins



US National Zoo: Panda mom not letting keepers swap in smaller newborn twin for feeding

A tiny newborn panda cub is getting extra care at the National Zoo after mom Mei Xiang stopped letting animal keepers swap the smaller cub in for feedings as she cares for the larger twin, the zoo said Tuesday.

Mei Xiang has the larger cub in her possession and appears to be taking very good care of it, the zoo said. Still, the cubs remain in a high-risk period.

US National Zoo: Panda mom not letting keepers swap in smaller newborn twin for feeding | Fox News
 
At the National Zoo, it’s time for a young male elephant to find a mate

“Tail,” Debbie Flinkman commanded the gray behemoth standing before her.

“Kandula,” she said, holding out an orange-tipped training stick. “Tail.”

The Asian elephant she helped raise weighs 7,300 pounds. He is 13, has brown eyes and long eyelashes, and was standing in a huge steel shipping container, open at one end.

He knew that “tail” meant he had to present his rear.

That meant turning around and backing into the container, which is scary. But he had to practice because he is going on a journey.

At the National Zoo, it?s time for a young male elephant to find a mate - The Washington Post

Things people might want to know if they don't want to read the article

The zoo wants to get an unrelated breeding male to replace Kandula — and has a potential candidate, officials said.

The zoo said it will retain ownership of Kandula
 
Sadly the smaller Panda cub didn't make it: Statement just issued via Facebook

We are sad to announce that the smaller of the two panda cubs has died.
The panda team continues to monitor Mei Xiang and the larger cub. They are encouraged that this cub appears to be strong and behaving normally
 
I think the bigger cub will probably survive because they brought in experts from a bunch of zoos like the panda expert at zoo Atlanta so they have a lot of combined experience and help to work together

On a different note, where do u guys think the national zoo is going to get a new bull elephant from? It has to be from the Sri Lankan subspecies.
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
It has to be from the Sri Lankan subspecies.
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Why? I know most of their elephants are Sri Lankan (I think at least one is Indian) but US zoos don't usually breed Asian Elephants to subspecies level anymore I don't think.

While I'd like it if they got a Sri Lankan bull to get a pure calf, there's no guarantee they would.

~Thylo:cool:
 
I think they would get a Sri Lankan bull because at the LA zoo (as you know) they have a magnificent Malaysian bull, but aren't breeding him with anyone, and I think it is probably because Malaysian elephants are a rare subspecies.
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
I think they would get a Sri Lankan bull because at the LA zoo (as you know) they have a magnificent Malaysian bull, but aren't breeding him with anyone, and I think it is probably because Malaysian elephants are a rare subspecies.
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Malaysian Elephants are also an invalid subspecies. Last I heard the population had been split up into Indian and Sumatran Elephants. I know the 1.1 at Cincinnati turned out to be Sumatrans, not sure about LA's (if you know where it originated from I could maybe find out).

But that's not necessarily why they're not breeding him. It could be for any number of reasons.

~Thylo:cool:
 
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