In a move almost guaranteed to quash romantic notions, onlookers watched intently from video monitors as two giant pandas at Washington DC’s National Zoo were about to have their first date in a year.

A US-born panda gave birth to her eighth cub in southwest China on Friday, a rare achievement for the endangered species that has been extremely hard to breed in captivity.

The endangered giant panda may soon be able to add a new representative to the ranks of their species, according to officials at the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna.

A giant panda who delivered a male cub last year has given birth to a female cub at a breeding center in northwest China, officials said. Nine-year-old Zhuzhu, whose name means pearl, gave birth to her newest cub Friday at the Shaanxi Rare Wild Animals Rescue and Breeding Research Center in Xi'an, China's state-run news agency, Xinhua, reported Saturday. Zhuzhu was artificially inseminated, as was 6-year-old Lousheng, who gave birth three weeks ago to a male and a female cub. The recent baby boom indicates we have made some progress in pandas' semen collection and freezing as well as prenatal care, center spokesman Jin Xuelin said. The center now has 21 pandas with another 180 being cared for in zoos throughout the world, Xinhua reported.

The veterinarian for the San Diego Zoo conducted his first examination of the panda cub born last month and has discovered it's a boy, zoo officials say. The 2.8-pound cub hasn't opened his eyes yet, but veterinarian Geoff Pye says he's in good condition, very roly poly, the San Diego Union Tribune reported Friday. Zoo officials say the exam lasted only about five minutes and the cub remained quiet. His mother, 18-year-old Bai Yun, gave birth to cubs in 2003, 2005 and 2007.