IT'S A BOY

PANDA...that is.

I have long been a Giant Panda aficionado. I have quite a collect of little panda figurines, stuffed animals, picture, pillows, blankets. To me, they are one of the most beautiful creatures on this earth and the fact that they are an endangered species truly upsets me. I realize that our desire to see them up close and personal has threatened them from multiplying, but I guess they're also not very interested in each other after all. The National Zoo has had Mie Xiang and Tian Tian since January of 2001, and just last month they had a baby. When he (as we know now) was born, he weighed and was about the size of a stick of butter. I actually went to my fridge and pulled out a stick of butter to hold in my hands (yes...I have no life). It really was amazing to think about the miracle (through in-vitro) of this little creature. Most panda cubs don't live very long...dying within their first 48 hours. But this little guy is a fighter...and his mama is apparently quite attentive. So, this week the panda team at the National Zoo got their first chance to examine the little cub while his mamma was away. During the exam, they discovered that he's healthy, he's about 12 inches long now, and he's a BOY!! When he was born, he had the natural pink pigmentation to him, but now, one month old, he has the characteristic black and white fur of the giant panda. I think we've got another 2-3 months before the public can see the panda cub, but until then...we can see mama and baby on the National Zoo website (when the live webcams aren't overloaded). Here are a few baby pictures from their website:

Panda Cub

Mama and Baby