Giant panda gives birth today

Posted 22 August 2015 by Matt Young

Mei Xiang, a giant panda at the National Zoo in Washington, and a distant cousin of Prof. Steve Steve, gave birth today, only 3 days after she realized she was pregnant. The identity of the father is unclear, but Prof. Steve Steve asked us not to go into that. Update, 9 a.m. August 23: Prof. Steve Steve informs us that according to an updated Times article (same URL), Mei Xiang has had twins.

9 Comments

Marilyn · 23 August 2015

Congratulations to Mei Xiang and the Smithsonian Zoo.

Rikki_Tikki_Taalik · 27 August 2015

Unfortunately the smaller of the two cubs has died. The other cub is still doing well.

Matt Young · 27 August 2015

Unfortunately the smaller of the two cubs has died. The other cub is still doing well.

Alas, yes. Thanks for pointing that out. Apparently when a panda has twins she usually favors one and ignores the other. The staff tried to get her to support both, but unfortunately without success.

Marilyn · 31 August 2015

The cub is a boy.

Marilyn · 3 September 2015

And Tian Tian is his dad.

Rikki_Tikki_Taalik · 6 September 2015

Marilyn said: And Tian Tian is his dad.

Nice try Prof. Steve Steve.

Henry J · 6 September 2015

Not the Prof.; he probably used protection.

Matt Young · 27 September 2015

According to today's Times, the cub will be named Bei Bei, which means "precious" and "treasure" in Chinese.

Henry J · 28 September 2015

What, they didn't give it a middle name of "Steve"?