Birth of Baby Panda...Spotlights Difficulties of Breeding in Captivity

Baby Giant Panda born in Washington DC Zoo...just a few inches long...doing just fine
 

The National Zoo’s female panda, Mei Xiang, gave birth on Friday. 

A giant panda at Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington gave birth to a cub Friday night, the latest chapter in a long saga of breeding attempts that has shown how very difficult it is for endangered giant pandas to reproduce.
The National Zoo's female panda, Mei Xiang, gave birth at 5:32 p.m. on Friday, then "picked up the cub and immediately began cradling and caring for it," the zoo said in a statement.
"Chief veterinarian Suzan Murray says that Mei Xiang & the cub appear to be doing well," the zoo said via Twitter.

 

Moment of birth

 

But whether the cub will survive is far from certain. It is difficult for pandas to breed in the wild, let alone in captivity. A cub born to Mei Xiang last fall died six days later, a result of liver damage caused by underdeveloped lungs.
That pregnancy, and this latest one, came via artificial insemination, following failed attempts by scientists to get Mei Xiang to naturally breed with the National Zoo’s male giant panda, Tian Tian

A team of vets had been glued 24-7 to the zoo’s Panda Cam since August 7, when Mei began showing signs of being pregnant.

 

Here’s a primer on what's so tricky about these animals' reproductive biology: Female pandas ovulate just once a year, in the spring. What's more, the female can only conceive for about two or three days around ovulation, which means she has to mate with a male during that period. Females can be fertile between the ages of about 4 to 20.

Generally solitary creatures, panda partners find each other in the wild via calls and scents, according to the National Zoo. Luckily for captive panda pairs, the male's nearby, but that doesn't mean mating is easy. Which is why ...The pair has to be compatible.

 

The National Zoo's male panda, Tian Tian, and Mei have had trouble mating naturally, but Mei has conceived before via artificial insemination. Tai Shan, born in 2005, was affectionately nicknamed Butterstick among D.C. fans due to a newborn panda's tiny size, and now lives in China. Mei was artificially inseminated again on March 30 of this year.

 

Good luck and long life to the little guy. Hopefully all these efforts help save the species.