Giant panda News

Mei Xiang and her cub did well overnight! The cub is nursing, and Mei is taking excellent care of him. She did not leave the den last night, but keepers are offering her water and juice to keep her hydrated. She has not shown any interest in eating yet, but that is normal for a new panda mom.

Scientists at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics confirmed that the giant panda cub born Aug. 22 at the National Zoo is male. A paternity analysis showed that Tian Tian (t-YEN t-YEN) is the cub's father. Scientists also confirmed the...

Overnight it was evident to panda keepers and veterinarians that our healthy panda cub was active and nursing appropriately throughout the night. Mei is showing proper maternal care which includes short sleep cycles, adjusting the tiny cub in her arms for better positioning and grooming. The staff...

The smaller of the two giant panda cubs born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo Aug. 22, died shortly after 2 p.m. today, Aug. 26. The panda team rotated both cubs in the past 24 hours allowing each to benefit from spending time with their mother, Mei Xiang. The smaller cub was with Mei Xiang from...

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...

Our panda cubs are doing well but the panda team had a challenging night. When they tried to swap the cubs at 11p.m., Mei Xiang would not set down the cub she had in her possession. Consequently, the panda team cared for the smaller cub throughout the night until 7:05 a.m. when they successfully...

The Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute confirms one giant panda cub born at 5:35 p.m. and a second giant panda cub was born at 10:07 p.m., Aug, 22. ( See a video of the second cub's first moments.) Shortly after the second birth, a panda team of three keepers retrieved one...

For the first time at the National Zoo, veterinarians detected something new during an ultrasound procedure this morning on giant panda Mei Xiang. They believe it is a developing giant panda fetus. Based on the size of the fetus, which is about four centimeters, veterinarians estimate that Mei Xiang...

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) scientists have confirmed a secondary rise in giant panda Mei Xiang's (may-SHONG) urinary progesterone levels. The slow rise started July 20 and indicates that she will either have a cub or experience the end of a pseudopregnancy within 30 to 50 days...

Last month Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute chief veterinarian, Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer and veterinarians from the San Diego Zoo and Hong Kong Zoo led a first-of-its-kind veterinary workshop at the Dujiangyan Panda Base to diagnose and elevate the level of medicine provided to giant...

This panda update was written by keeper Nicole MacCorkle. We still don't know if Mei Xiang is pregnant or pseudopregnant. (Remember her hormones and behavior will mimic a pregnancy even if she is pseudopregnant!) If you have been regularly watching the panda cams, you may have noticed that Mei Xiang...

As part of the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute's ongoing collaboration with our Chinese panda colleagues, panda keeper Becky Malinsky and I were able to spend 10 days visiting three giant panda bases earlier this spring. The first two we visited, Bifengxia and...

After carefully monitoring the behavior of both its giant pandas and female Mei Xiang's (may-SHONG) hormones for weeks, the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute's team of reproductive scientists, veterinarians and panda keepers performed two artificial inseminations within...

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Bao Bao explored her new yard for the very first time this morning! She spent over an hour outside checking out her new digs. Keepers say that she was cautious at first (which she often is with new experiences), but explored every nook-and-cranny of the yard. She's still learning the lay-of-the-land...

This update was written by keeper Nicole MacCorkle. Hopefully Friday morning was the last hurrah for winter 2014-2015. While our pandas enjoy the snowy weather and all the tobogganing opportunities that it can bring, it also makes things more challenging logistically. While long-time National Zoo...

This update was written by panda keeper Nicole MacCorkle. It has been nearly a week since Mei Xiang and Bao Bao were separated, and we are happy to report that they are both doing well. With any major change in life, there is an adjustment period, but each of our female pandas are settling in and...

This past weekend brought lots of news for giant pandas around the world, and our three bears at the National Zoo. China's State Forestry Administration released the results of the latest giant panda survey, which found 1,864 bears living in the wild. That's an increase of 16.8 percent since 2003...

It's hard to believe, but Bao Bao is almost 18 months old! Eighteen months is a big milestone for giant panda cubs because they stop nursing and start living separately from their mothers. Bao Bao started the weaning process naturally a few months ago, and now she's eating significantly more bamboo...

Today was Bao Bao's first time playing in the snow outside! And she was quite the little snow panda. She spent her morning tumbling down the hill in her yard, climbing and sliding down trees and pouncing on her mom Mei Xiang! Bao Bao also did the panda version of snow tubing, which we caught on...

This update was written by keeper Nicole MacCorkle. We've noticed Mei Xiang and Bao Bao are spending increasing amounts of time apart from each other, and Mei is permitting Bao Bao to nurse less often. Sometimes, they even sleep in separate enclosures, a sign that they are beginning the separation...

Morgan Maly is a graduate student at North Carolina State University working on her master’s thesis in conjunction with Dr. Adrienne Crosier at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute studying sexual maturity in ex situ cheetahs. This past October I had an opportunity to travel to Dujiangyan...