One step closer to the reincarnation of the Panda Burger at Ziggy's on W. Alabama. Can't wait to get mine. San Diego Zoo's Giant Panda Gives Birth 1 hour, 47 minutes ago Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo! By SETH HETTENA, Associated Press Writer SAN DIEGO - Bai Yun, a 13-year-old giant panda, gave birth to the first of twin cubs, but researchers at the San Diego Zoo were still waiting more than 18 hours later for the second arrival. AP Photo Monitors watched around the clock but there hadn't been any sign of the second panda Wednesday morning, zoo spokesman Paul Garcia said. Bai Yun delivered her first cub in a nest of shredded bamboo at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, said Don Lindburg, head of the zoo's panda team. "We were all rather surprised ... including the mother," Lindburg said. "She showed a real startled reaction. There was no sign of a contraction and suddenly there's this very loudly vocalizing, slithering little animal. "She immediately leaned over, as panda mothers do, picked it up in her mouth and put it on her body." Research has shown female pandas who are pregnant with twins deliver the second cub anytime between 12 minutes and 12 hours after giving birth to the first, according to the zoo's Web site. Panda cubs typically weigh from 4 to 6 ounces at birth. Typically, a mother will chose to care for only one cub, officials said. "She's still providing proper care for the infant," Garcia said. "The giant panda team is pretty pleased with her maternal instincts." Bai Yun gave birth to a cub in 1999 after she was artificially inseminated. Her offspring, Hua Mei, is the first U.S.-born panda to survive into adolescence. Giant pandas are an endangered species. Fewer than 1,000 exist in the wild, all in China, and about 150 live in captivity, including panda pairs at zoos in Washington, Atlanta and Mexico City.
Ouch! That was not nice. Anyone know why Pandas are close to extinction? Did people hunt them before? Was there ever a demand for Panda fur or meat?
Its sad, but Panda's are an evolutionary dead end. They will only be kept from becoming extinct through assistance from humans. Their reproductive system is so bizarre its a wonder they have lasted this long.
At least he wasn't born at the National Zoo in DC. All our animals are being murdered by "something". Congress is actually investigating the the mystery. Murders in the Rue Morgue if you ask me.
Yes, actually. There's a smaller "red panda" that looks like a big red raccoon. It doesn't look much like the other panda to the outside observer. This is why they tell you that pandas are related to raccoons and not bears... though there's still some controversy on that. <img src="http://home.fuse.net/redpanda/pandabiscuit.jpg">
The panda is much like the koala of Australia in that it feeds exclusively on one food, bamboo. This being the case their habitat has been ravaged by humans which leaves less and less habitat over time. Panda skins/furs are among the world's most valuable. Panda skins/furs can fetch anywhere from $100,000 to $300,000. Their mating/reproduction/social ways are all very complex and not understood by us completely yet. Pandas are also hunted by snow leopards when they are small enough. Burrow rats cause tremendous damage to bamboo forrest which eliminates a lot of the pandas natural habitat as well. Actually recent studies have shown that pandas are indeed true bears and not related to racoons but this is still very debatable. Pandas 1 Pandas 2