By — Andrew Mach Andrew Mach Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/giant-panda-mei-xiang-gives-birth-twins-national-zoo Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Giant panda Mei Xiang gives birth to twins at National Zoo Nation Aug 23, 2015 1:34 PM EDT It’s twins! The National Zoo’s giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to twin cubs on Saturday in Washington D.C., the zoo confirmed. The first giant panda cub born was born at 5:35 p.m. and the second at 10:07 p.m., the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute said in a press release. Both cubs, weighing 86 and 132 grams, were “vocalizing well” Sunday morning, the zoo said. The sex of either won’t be determined until later. Giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth at 5:35pm to our new cub and reacted by picking it up. Listen for the vocalizations! The panda team began preparing when her water broke at 4:32pm and she was having contractions. We’re monitoring mom and cub 24 hours a day via our live panda cam. #PandaStory #InstaScience #WeSaveSpecies A video posted by Smithsonian’s National Zoo (@smithsonianzoo) on Aug 22, 2015 at 5:33pm PDT Because of the cubs’s vulnerable state and size, zookeepers and nutritionists will alternate between giving one of the cubs to Mei Xiang to nurse and bottle feed the other with formula made up of water, human baby formula and puppy formula and keep it warm in an incubator. Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated in April using semen from a two giant pandas, Tian Tian, who lives at the zoo, and another in China. A DNA analysis will determine who the father is. Giant pandas give birth to twins roughly half of the time, the zoo said, and this is the third time a giant panda living in the United States has given birth to twins. Mei Xiang has two surviving cubs, Tai Shan, born a decade ago and living in China, and Bao Bao who lives at the zoo. Bao Bao celebrated her second birthday at the National Zoo on Sunday, feasting on a frozen fruitsicle cake made of honey, apple juice, apple sauce, bamboo, carrots and beet juice. The zoo will send her to China in two years, officials said. Happy birthday, Bao Bao! This morning, we celebrated her second birthday with a traditional frozen fruitsicle cake made by our talented nutrition team. They incorporated all of her favorite treats, including: honey, apple juice, apple sauce, bamboo, carrots, and beet juice. For a special birthday enrichment activity, keepers decorated cardboard boxes and placed additional treats within for her to investigate and enjoy. What does Bao Bao wish for on her birthday? Give a gift to the Zoo’s animals: http://s.si.edu/1Jac8Tg. #WeSaveSpecies Photo Credit: Jim and Pam Jenkins, Smithsonian’s National Zoo A photo posted by Smithsonian’s National Zoo (@smithsonianzoo) on Aug 23, 2015 at 8:46am PDT We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now By — Andrew Mach Andrew Mach Andrew Mach is a former Digital Editor for PBS NewsHour in New York City, where he manages the online editorial direction of the national broadcast's weekend edition. Formerly, Mach was a news editor and staff writer for NBC News. He's also written for the Christian Science Monitor in Boston and had stints at ABC News, the Washington Post and German network ZDF in Berlin, in addition to reporting for an investigative journalism project in Phoenix. Mach was a recipient of the 2016 Kiplinger Fellowship, the 2015 RIAS German/American Exchange fellowship by the Radio Television Digital News Foundation and the 2012 Berlin Capital Program Fulbright. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is a native of Aberdeen, South Dakota. @andrewjmach
It’s twins! The National Zoo’s giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to twin cubs on Saturday in Washington D.C., the zoo confirmed. The first giant panda cub born was born at 5:35 p.m. and the second at 10:07 p.m., the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute said in a press release. Both cubs, weighing 86 and 132 grams, were “vocalizing well” Sunday morning, the zoo said. The sex of either won’t be determined until later. Giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth at 5:35pm to our new cub and reacted by picking it up. Listen for the vocalizations! The panda team began preparing when her water broke at 4:32pm and she was having contractions. We’re monitoring mom and cub 24 hours a day via our live panda cam. #PandaStory #InstaScience #WeSaveSpecies A video posted by Smithsonian’s National Zoo (@smithsonianzoo) on Aug 22, 2015 at 5:33pm PDT Because of the cubs’s vulnerable state and size, zookeepers and nutritionists will alternate between giving one of the cubs to Mei Xiang to nurse and bottle feed the other with formula made up of water, human baby formula and puppy formula and keep it warm in an incubator. Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated in April using semen from a two giant pandas, Tian Tian, who lives at the zoo, and another in China. A DNA analysis will determine who the father is. Giant pandas give birth to twins roughly half of the time, the zoo said, and this is the third time a giant panda living in the United States has given birth to twins. Mei Xiang has two surviving cubs, Tai Shan, born a decade ago and living in China, and Bao Bao who lives at the zoo. Bao Bao celebrated her second birthday at the National Zoo on Sunday, feasting on a frozen fruitsicle cake made of honey, apple juice, apple sauce, bamboo, carrots and beet juice. The zoo will send her to China in two years, officials said. Happy birthday, Bao Bao! This morning, we celebrated her second birthday with a traditional frozen fruitsicle cake made by our talented nutrition team. They incorporated all of her favorite treats, including: honey, apple juice, apple sauce, bamboo, carrots, and beet juice. For a special birthday enrichment activity, keepers decorated cardboard boxes and placed additional treats within for her to investigate and enjoy. What does Bao Bao wish for on her birthday? Give a gift to the Zoo’s animals: http://s.si.edu/1Jac8Tg. #WeSaveSpecies Photo Credit: Jim and Pam Jenkins, Smithsonian’s National Zoo A photo posted by Smithsonian’s National Zoo (@smithsonianzoo) on Aug 23, 2015 at 8:46am PDT We're not going anywhere. Stand up for truly independent, trusted news that you can count on! Donate now