A panda cub the size of a stick of butter was born early Saturday at the National Zoo (in Washington), the first for the pair of endangered bears now living there and a milestone for the zoo.
Mei Xiang gave birth at 3:41 a.m. (0741 GMT) and zoo veterinarians were watching closely to see how the tiny cub, which weighs just ounces (grams), will fare in its first critical days.
"Luckily, right now both mother and cub are doing really, really well," said zoo spokesman John Gibbons. "Mei Xiang is proving that she knows best and she's doing exactly what Mother Nature intended her to do."
That would be cradling and nursing the white-haired cub, which Gibbons said was about "the size of a stick of butter."
The newborn's sex may not be determined for weeks as zoo officials stay out of the panda den while mother and baby bond and the cub builds immunity from infection.
