National Zoo Holds Creative Gender Reveal Party For New Baby Giant Panda

Oct 13, 2020

The Smithsonian National Zoo, located in Washington, ushered in a baby panda into the world a few months ago. It was a historic event for a few reasons, but until a genetic test was done, the gender could not yet be determined. The staff revealed the baby panda's sex in October 2020 in a truly creative manner. 

In a team clip, zoo officials revealed the gender through a painting done by the cub's father, Tian Tian. If the father created a pink painting, then the cub would turn out to be a girl, and if the picture had a blue painting, then the cub was a boy. After weeks of assumption, the gender reveal was finally here.

The zoo not only posted the gender disclosure video, but they also posted some cute pictures of the baby on their YouTube channel.

The zoo's videos and photos showed that the baby panda was born blind, pink, and almost hairless reports My San Antonio. However, after some days, the cub started to show the familiar white and black coloring of pandas. According to the staff, the baby panda was born quite small. But within six weeks, the baby panda was weighing 3.7 pounds with a height of 14-inch long. The staff also added that the cub could open its eyes after six weeks.

In the gender reveal video, Tian Tian smeared blue markings on the painting, implying that the baby was a boy. According to the staff, they had to wait for six weeks to reveal the gender as determining the gender of the baby panda is usually impossible during and after birth. Thus, they have to use a genetic test since female and male cubs tend to have a similar physical appearance.

The new baby panda's birth was essential because of the pandemic that led to zoo closure for months. According to zoo officials, when Mei Xiang, the mother, was pregnant, there was a 1200% increase on their online Panda Cam. According to Steve Monfort, the director of the zoo, the birth of the unnamed baby panda was a miracle for them, and it lifted not only his team's spirit but also the world as well, reports My San Antonio.

Currently, the only way you can see the baby panda is through the zoo's panda-cam. Although the zoo re-opened on July 24, it is yet to accommodate many people. Besides that, the doors to the panda house and Asia Trail, where you can visit Tian Tian, is still closed to leave room to repave the walkways.

On March 14 this year, the zoo officials artificially inseminated Mei Xiang with frozen sperms extracted from Tian Tian, reports My San Antonio. Normally, the process would use both frozen sperm and fresh sperm, but using only frozen sperm reduces the number of medical procedures requires for the mamma Panda, thus making it safer. 

What makes this procedure a unique one is because it's the first successful method of its kind. Furthermore, Mei Xiang is 22 years old, making her the oldest panda in the United Stated to deliver a newborn baby successfully.

What did you think about this story? Be sure to tell your friends and give us your opinions!