Japan zoo toasts birth of panda cub

TOKYO: A Japanese zoo celebrated the first birth of a baby panda in five years Monday, with the tiny cub small enough to fit in the palm of a human hand, reports AFP.
Eleven-year-old mum Shin Shin gave birth just before noon, officials at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo said in a statement.Pandas are born pink, hairless and weighing around 100 grams (three-and-a-half ounces) -- so small it can be difficult to determine their sex."There have been cases where the sex of a panda has been found to be wrongly determined several years after its birth," a zoo spokesman told AFP amid the panda-monium.
"It could take a while before we know."Shin Shin, who mated with male Ri Ri in February, had another baby in 2012 -- the first time at the zoo in 24 years, but the cub died from pneumonia six days later.

 

Japan zoo toasts birth of panda cub

TOKYO: A Japanese zoo celebrated the first birth of a baby panda in five years Monday, with the tiny cub small enough to fit in the palm of a human hand, reports AFP. Eleven-year-old mum Shin Shin gave birth just before noon, officials at Tokyos Ueno Zoo said in a statement.Pandas are born pink, hairless and weighing around 100 grams (three-and-a-half ounces) -- so small it can be difficult to determine their sex.There have been cases where the sex of a panda has been found to be wrongly determined several years after its birth, a zoo spokesman told AFP amid the panda-monium. It could take a while before we know.Shin Shin, who mated with male Ri Ri in February, had another baby in 2012 -- the first time at the zoo in 24 years, but the cub died from pneumonia six days later.