National Zoo Panda Cub a Girl!

photo from spiderxcat/Flickr

The National Zoo announced Thursday the Giant Panda cub born to Mei Xiang is a girl whose name will be announced on her 100-day-old birthday according to Chinese tradition. Officials will consult with their colleagues in China and hope to select from several choices of names for Mei Xiang's offspring.

The birth of the cub August 23 was followed the next day by a second cub that was stillborn. An examination determined that cub was also a female who had deformities which prevented normal development.

Mama is shown above in a photo taken August 29, supplied by Smithsonian's National Zoo with credit to AP, bonding with her baby. The zoo identified Tian Tian, another resident of the zoo, as the father of the newborn.  He weighs in at 264 pounds and was used to artificially inseminate Mei Xiang when their mating failed. The Zoo also used Gao Gao, another male Giant Panda from the San Diego Zoo, to boost the chances of conception.

The cub's panda markings are beginning to appear and zoo officials describe her as healthy and active, but the public will not glimpse her live until she has reached four months. She will stay at the National Zoo for four years and then journey to China where she will have a permanent home.