Giant Panda Cams are Back!

The giant panda cams at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo went down for maintenance but are now back in full HD, with uninterrupted video! You can currently watch on their website at AnimalCams on your computer, tablet, or phone.

The female panda Mei Xiang might be pregnant, but since cubs are born so small it is impossible to tell on ultrasound until the final weeks of gestation – you can follow cub updates on twitter at #CubWatch.

PandaUpdateApril17
(source: Panda Updates)

You can see the video of Mei’s latest ultrasound, which she voluntarily participates in when she wants (she gets treats for it of course). Even though it is too early to see if she is having a cub the training involved in making such a medical procedure happen is quite interesting:

Again, you can watch all the adorable panda action on the Smithsonian’s website at AnimalCams.

Pandas at Washington’s National Zoo

The panda couple at the Washington National Zoo, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, who are on loan from the Chinese government have been allowed to stay in the US for another 5 years. This is very good news for the US and for panda kind. Hopefully we will see new baby pandas soon!

The original agreement for the pair was for ten years at a cost of $10 million dollars – which went to panda conservation in China. The new agreement rests on the condition that the pair will breed again, and if not one or both of the pandas can be exchanged for another in the hopes of baby pandas.  Their first baby, Tai Shan, born in 2005 was a hit at the zoo but all babies of this loaned panda pair must be returned to China and so Tai Shan went back in February of 2010.

Read more at Reuters.