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San Diego Zoo's Giant Panda Gives Birth

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

Bai Yun, a 13-year-old giant panda, gave birth to the first of twin cubs, but researchers at the San Diego Zoo were still waiting more than 18 hours later for the second arrival.

Monitors watched around the clock but there hadn't been any sign of the second panda Wednesday morning, zoo spokesman Paul Garcia said.

Bai Yun delivered her first cub in a nest of shredded bamboo at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, said Don Lindburg, head of the zoo's panda team.

"We were all rather surprised ... including the mother," Lindburg said. "She showed a real startled reaction. There was no sign of a contraction and suddenly there's this very loudly vocalizing, slithering little animal.

"She immediately leaned over, as panda mothers do, picked it up in her mouth and put it on her body."

Research has shown female pandas who are pregnant with twins deliver the second cub anytime between 12 minutes and 12 hours after giving birth to the first, according to the zoo's Web site. Panda cubs typically weigh from 4 to 6 ounces at birth.

Typically, a mother will chose to care for only one cub, officials said.

"She's still providing proper care for the infant," Garcia said. "The giant panda team is pretty pleased with her maternal instincts."

Bai Yun gave birth to a cub in 1999 after she was artificially inseminated. Her offspring, Hua Mei, is the first U.S.-born panda to survive into adolescence.

Giant pandas are an endangered species. Fewer than 1,000 exist in the wild, all in China, and about 150 live in captivity, including panda pairs at zoos in Washington, Atlanta and Mexico City.

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On the Net:

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/index.html

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