Okay, I simply can’t resist. This just in from the San Diego Zoo:
“In just one week, the San Diego Zoo’s giant panda cub gained a little over one pound. The 3.9-pound male cub is getting plenty of milk to drink, as evidenced by the milk moustache he sported during his veterinary exam on Thursday.
“He vocalized a little today,” said Geoff Pye, B.V.Sc., San Diego Zoo senior veterinarian. “It was nothing dramatic. He was just letting us know he was aware of what we were doing.”
The cub’s eyes and ears have not yet opened, but he can smell and feel the touch of his caretakers. The cub is not yet strong enough to crawl or walk and is completely dependent on his mother, Bai Yun.
In 1999, Bai Yun gave birth at the San Diego Zoo to the first surviving giant panda born in the United States. She has since given birth to one cub in 2003, 2005, 2007, and most recently on Aug. 5. This is Bai Yun’s second male cub. Following Chinese tradition, he will remain unnamed until he is at least 100 days old.
Giant pandas are on loan to the San Diego Zoo from the People’s Republic of China to study this endangered species. The exam gives the panda team the opportunity to learn more about cub development as well as mother-and-cub relationships, information that is important to better understand giant panda biology.
Bai Yun and the cub will remain in the den for four to five months. During the denning period, the only way to see them is through the San Diego Zoo’s live Panda Cam.”