Baby Steps for San Diego Zoo’s Giant Panda Cub

2012-10-19 — /travelprnews.com/ — The San Diego Zoo’s 11-week-old giant panda cub raised one front paw, followed clumsily by the other, lurched forward, and came to a stop. The cub was taking baby steps during a Thursday morning veterinary examination while zookeepers looked on. PK Robbins, DVM, San Diego Zoo senior veterinarian, describes the attempt to walk “like a toddler holding onto the furniture.” Viewers of Panda Cam, the Zoo’s 24-hour live online camera feed, may catch glimpses of the cub learning to walk. Visit www.sandiegozoo.org/pandacam to watch.

The unnamed male cub is the sixth giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo. The cub’s mother, Bai Yun, has given birth to a single cub in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and to this cub on July 29. Five of Bai Yun’s cubs were conceived through natural mating. Only the first, in 1999, was the result of artificial insemination. Just 1,600 giant pandas are believed to exist in the wild, and the species is primarily threatened by habitat loss. San Diego Zoo Global, in conjunction with Chinese panda experts, is working to support science-based conservation of the species.

CONTACT:   SAN DIEGO ZOO GLOBAL
PUBLIC RELATIONS
619-685-3291

WEBSITE:    www.sandiegozoo.org

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Photo taken on Oct. 18, 2012, by Ken Bohn, San Diego Zoo.

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