The Smithsonian National Zoo announced earlier today that their female panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a cub at 5:32 pm!
You can watch the Panda cam on the national zoo’s website here.
(photo of Mei Xiang: KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images)
Behavior watchers were observing her 24 hours a day via their panda cams since August 7 as she began to exhibit more and more signs that she would be giving birth. The cub will receive a preliminary exam in the next 48 hours, and continue to receive regular health checks. This is the panda’s third cub, her first cub survived and now lives in china while her second cub died of liver failure.
You can read more about all that goes into testing for panda pregnancy, how she got that way, and the video of her giving birth at the panda blog.
