The National Zoo in Washington had a tiring but joyous evening on Aug. 22 when Mei Xiang, the zoo's 17-year-old Panda, gave birth to not one, but two cubs in a livestream that was broadcasted to all panda watchers from the U.S.A to China.
Mei's twins were born five hours apart and only the third set of panda twins to be born in the United States. One other pair of twins born to another panda did not survive. Therefore, Mei's keepers and vets are keeping her under around-the-clock care, including frequent calls to China, where they have more experience in rearing Panda cubs, to ensure that Mei, as well as her babies, are given the best possible care and chances of survival.
The second panda cub actually came as a surprise for Laurie Thompson, one of the Panda biologists at the National Zoo. When Mei's first cub was delivered at 5:35 p.m., many of her keepers thought that her labor was over and many supervisors had already gone home.
However, at 10:07 p.m., as Thompson was observing Mei and her new baby via the Panda monitor they kept on her, she heard Mei making noises that sounded like the vocalizations she was making when she was having contractions. That's when Thompson realized that Mei was having another baby and before she could get on the scene, she saw the second cub delivered right in front of her eyes on the screen.
"Out popped the cub," Thompson said. She knew it was a second cub because Mei was still holding the first one in her arms and was struggling to figure out how to pick up her second one.
Often times, Pandas are unable to care for both twins, or triplets, when they have multiple births which result in one or both of the cubs dying. So, in order to relieve the stress on the mother, Mei's keepers decided to carefully swap out the cubs and to continue doing so every few hours, so that both babies will have a chance to nurse from their mother and have a better chance of survival.
Mei and her babies continue to be cared for 24/7 and the zoo staff members are happy to report that both babies are squealing - a sign that they are healthy.
The twins are latest cubs to be born by Mei. In 2005, she gave birth to Tai Shan, a male who is now back in China, and Bao Bao in 2013, a female who is still at the National Zoo. Mei also delivered Bao Bao's twin who was stillborn, and another cub in 2012 that died of liver abnormalities less than a week later.
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