Giant panda News

In the early morning hours, Mei Xiang gently placed her cub on the floor of her den. Vigilant panda cam observers were watching at 3:37 a.m., and we're delighted to share the video! You'll see the tiny cub has a round belly which indicates to the panda team that it is nursing well. Also, the cub has...

This morning keepers entered Mei Xiang's den to offer her food and water. They came with some of her favorite treats—diluted apple juice, a sweet potato and a pear. She licked the sweet potato but didn't show much interest in it or the pear. Although Mei wasn't very hungry, she was thirsty and she...

This morning, the panda team attempted to get the cub for a second veterinary exam. Mei Xiang was more alert and more aware of the keepers' presence today, especially compared with Sunday when she seemed focused on the cub to the exclusion of everything else around her. As opposed to Sunday, today...

This morning, the panda team was able to give the cub its first neonatal exam. The cub is robust, fully formed, and is a bright, healthy shade of pink. It weighs 137 grams, which is about 4.8 ounces. Its heart rate is steady, and vets were able to hear breathing sounds from both lungs. It's belly...

At 7:29 p.m. this evening, Mei Xiang gave birth to a second, stillborn cub. Keepers watching Mei on the panda cam saw her groom it for 17 minutes. When she stopped grooming, it fell from Mei's body onto the floor of the den. It lay motionless and made no sound. Throughout, staff could see the first...

Giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub at the Smithsonian's National Zoo 5:32 p.m. The panda team heard the cub vocalize and glimpsed the cub for the first time briefly immediately after the birth. Mei Xiang picked the cub up immediately and began cradling and caring for it. Behavior watchers...

The panda team at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat has officially started #cubwatch—which is normal for this point in the breeding season. Volunteer behavior watchers have been monitoring Mei Xiang via the panda cams 24-hours-a-day since August 7. Keepers say that Mei's behavior is...

As we continue to watch Mei Xiang in hopes of a new addition to the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat, we have noticed some behavioral changes in our female giant panda. In the past few days Mei has become much less interested in interacting with her keepers, and she continues to be...

Scientists at the Smithsonian's National Zoo have confirmed a secondary rise in urinary progesterone in Mei Xiang. The rise indicates that she will experience the end of a pseudopregnancy or give birth to a cub in 40 to 55 days. Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated twice March 30 after natural...

Giant panda fans can tune into the panda cams, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company Fund, at the Smithsonian's National Zoo once again. The cams went dark for upgrades May 30 but will begin streaming live uninterrupted video today at noon. The panda cam system upgrades were designed to maximize the...

We know many of you miss watching Mei Xiang and Tian Tian on our panda cams. We want you to know we're working hard to get them up and running! As with many technical projects, we've hit some unanticipated delays. Primarily, we're having issues with the new consoles and getting the audio system to...

This week's giant panda update, written by keeper Marty Dearie, details how he and other keepers work with Mei Xiang and Tian Tian on training behaviors behind-the-scenes at the David M. Rubenstein Family Giant Panda Habitat. How do you draw a blood sample from a giant panda? If the panda is Mei...

Maintaining the genetic diversity of giant pandas living in human care is a science?an exact science. SCBI scientist Jonathan Ballou determines how well-represented an individual panda's genes are in the captive population and makes breeding recommendations. In this panda update he explains how he...

We have some exciting news for all of our panda cam watchers! The panda cams, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company Fund, are going to be gradually upgraded. But in order to make the changes the cams will be turned off for a few weeks. The cams will most likely go dark around at the end of May and...

Both Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are returning to their normal routines, following the breeding season. Occasionally, we are still seeing some scent-marking or some restlessness, but their appetites have returned, and both are spending their days exploring their yards independently, with little interest...

This week's Giant Panda Update is from Mike Maslanka, head of the Department of Nutrition Science at the Zoo. It's 6:15 a.m. It's dark and cold outside. Many folks around D.C. are still arguing with the snooze button. But in the morning darkness, the garage door of the Commissary at the Smithsonian...

Reproductive scientists and veterinarians from the Smithsonian's National Zoo alongside Tang Chunxiang, the assistant director and chief veterinarian of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at Wolong performed a second artificial insemination on giant panda Mei Xiang...

Spring has sprung and the giant pandas are breeding again at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Scientists detected a rise in urinary estrogens March 26, in its female giant panda Mei Xiang (may-SHONG). This rise and her behaviors indicated that Mei Xiang was in estrus and ready to breed. A team of Zoo...

Breeding season has arrived! Mei Xiang and Tian Tian are exhibiting behaviors indicating that they are ready to breed; and Mei Xiang's hormones have begun to rise. That rise indicates that she is in estrus. Our giant panda breeding team — including Zoo keepers, reproductive scientists, veterinarians...

This week's giant panda news features a behavior update from keeper, Nicole MacCorkle. Both Mei's and Tian's appetites have decreased a bit this week. Tian is bleating more at Mei (a high pitched contact call), and she is vocalizing back, although her vocalizations are anything but friendly. She...

We are continuing to monitor Mei Xiang's hormone levels very closely, but her hormones are still at baseline. Once Mei Xiang's hormones begin to rise we will know that she has entered estrus. Though she is still in the pre-estrus phase, Mei has started showing increased activity and we have noticed...

Dr. Pierre Comizzoli is a reproductive cryobiologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. In this giant panda update he explains how the Zoo stores semen for endagered wildlife, which can be used for procedures like an artificial insemination. The team of people at the Zoo who study...

In addition to the research Zoo scientists and their Chinese colleagues conduct on giant pandas, they also study red pandas. In this update Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer, lead veterinarian at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Department of Conservation Medicine, writes about the research...

Dr. Copper Aitken-Palmer is the lead veterinarian at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Department of Conservation Medicine. In the past few months she and other Zoo scientists have traveled to China for different giant panda conservation initatives. Below she writes about some of...

Over the next few months we'll be bringing you giant panda updates that will focus on Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, and the research Zoo scientists conduct related to giant pandas around the world. You'll be hearing from many different experts at the Zoo and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute...