Giant Panda Gives Birth to Healthy Cub

After more than a decade of failure and frustration, the National Zoological Park’s female giant panda gave birth Tuesday to a four-ounce cub that seems alert and strong.

The birth--delivering the first apparently healthy offspring from the two pandas donated by the People’s Republic of China in 1972--occurred at 3:33 a.m. and prompted jubilation at the zoo, spokesmen there said.

In August, 1984, the female panda, Ling-Ling, delivered a stillborn cub. In 1983, she had given birth to a cub that died of bacterial pneumonia three hours later.

“This is really a big day, this is really a big deal here,” said Juanita Lambert, a zoo volunteer who has led panda tours almost since the pair arrived.

Difficult to Breed

The birth was heralded as an important step toward building a second generation of the rare mammals here. Ling-Ling and her mate, Hsing-Hsing, are the only pandas in a permanent zoo collection in the United States, and the species is among the most difficult to breed in captivity.

“Both mother and cub are doing well,” said zoo spokesman Mike Morgan. “She is cradling the cub in her arms. It only weighs four ounces but it is surprisingly loud. It’s kind of a whining call.”

Until the big moment, zoo curators said, even they were not sure Ling-Ling was pregnant. She gave them a clue by forming the bamboo shoots she is fed into a nest, but the tiny fetus caused not the slightest bulge on a mother that weighs 245 pounds.

The birth was observed by a pair of zoo volunteers via a remote camera. Zoo officials said that the sex of the cub, which they said is covered with white fur and looks “like a rat,” will not be known for several weeks, and they will put off naming the cub until then.

Mother Understands Role

They also will not enter the shelter in which Ling-Ling is nursing the infant unless she shows signs of abandoning it. So far, the mother seems to understand her role, the officials said.

“We just have to take it day by day right now, hour by hour, minute by minute,” said Lisa Stevens, a zoo staff member who oversees the pandas.

The panda cub is one of seven surviving offspring born to pandas outside China. The animal is native to the high mountain region of central China and Tibet and subsists on bamboo.

Visitors to the panda exhibit--among the most popular zoo attractions in the United States--will be able to see the mother only on a video screen for the immediate future.

Tuesday, tourists were disappointed but understanding.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to see them,” said Bill Tinsman, visiting with his wife and 10-year-old son from Jacksonville, Fla. “But the fact that there’s a birth kind of makes up for that.”

About the only one at the zoo who did not seem impressed by the day’s event was Hsing-Hsing. Zoo officials say Hsing-Hsing is oblivious to the birth and will not have any interaction with his offspring. The adult pandas live in separate areas, and most likely they will not mate again for two years.