Shin Shin resumes care of her cub, its a boy!

Ueno Zoo's Shin Shin resumes caring for panda cub after time in incubator

By Adam Westlake

The baby Panda that was born at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo last Thursday has resumed breast-feeding from mother Shin Shin after a brief period in an incubator. Zoo officials say Shin Shin didn't sleep after giving birth, and on Friday night she put the cub down to eat some bamboo sprouts a short distance away. The staff took the panda cub to keep it warm for a little while, where it was then discovered to be a male.

Veterinarians believe Shin Shin was suffering from fatigue, and that's why she was somewhat unresponsive to the cub's crying. The baby Panda was returned shortly after the confirmation of its gender, but Shin Shin still didn't pick it up. So on Saturday it was moved to an incubator. The two were reunited on Monday, and happily Shin Shin went to the baby's aid when it cried, picking it up and breast-feeding once more, proving it wouldn't be a problem to care for.

Weighing around 130 grams, this was the first panda to be born at Ueno Zoo in 24 years, and the first in the zoo's history to be naturally conceived, as opposed to artificial insemination. Both Shin Shin and the baby have been monitored around the clock, and they are in good health. The zoo hopes have the panda cub in public view in around six months, and debating about accepting name suggestions from the public. As Shin Shin and her mate are on loan from China, it will have to be a name the country approves of, therefore excluding the suggestions put forth by Tokyo's Governor Shintaro Ishihara

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Yang Yang at the Atlanta Zoo on April 25, 2012. © Beachkat1.

Yang Yang at the Atlanta Zoo on April 25, 2012.