First panda born in U.S. this year 'progressing well,' 'in great shape'
December 2nd, 2010
11:52 AM ET

First panda born in U.S. this year 'progressing well,' 'in great shape'

The newborn panda at Zoo Atlanta was given a clean bill of health Thursday.

“He looks great and is progressing well for this stage in his one month long life,” said Dr. Hayley Murphy, director of veterinary services for Zoo Atlanta.

The unnamed cub is the only giant panda to be born in the U.S. in 2010.

He weighed in Thursday at 2.2 pounds and is 13.7 inches long from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail. He has a full coat of hair and continues to nurse with his 13-year old mother Lun Lun in their den.

“His mother is taking great care of him and has great maternal instincts,” said Murphy. “We checked his vital signs this morning and discovered that he’s in great shape, eating well and is an average size for a panda of his age.”

The veterinary team removes him once a week from Lun Lun for a check-up. Round-the-clock monitoring also occurs through a video surveillance at the zoo.

The newborn is the third offspring for Lun Lun and his 13-year-old father Yang Yang. All three births have been the products of artificial insemination.

Following a Chinese tradition, panda cubs are not named until they are 100 days old. The zoo plans to soon announce an event surrounding the naming of the panda.

The newborn will not be on display for the general public until Spring of 2011. Until then, panda fans can watch him online on Zoo Atlanta’s PandaCam.

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Filed under: Animals
soundoff (58 Responses)
  1. KrissyStar

    I want one... he is soooo cute

    December 2, 2010 at 1:55 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Smellie

    I've already named him. I will call him "Cub." I know, you are impressed. It's perfect: concise, understated, subtle and obvious. No need for any silly contest just to come up with "Ding-a-Ling."

    December 2, 2010 at 1:56 pm | Report abuse |
  3. LawrenceOf Alabama

    I can't wait to visit him with my kids. Awfully cute. Maybe he could replace Jack Black as the best Celebrity Panda.

    December 2, 2010 at 1:57 pm | Report abuse |
  4. SpecialAgentOso

    And to think this little guy is only going to get cuter!!!! Awww

    December 2, 2010 at 2:00 pm | Report abuse |
  5. PaulainAtlanta

    He already has a nickname – Wee Lan – a play on being a wee one and have LAN (Atlanta) like his siblings, Mei Lan and Xi Lan.

    December 2, 2010 at 2:20 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Homer Simpson

    if i want to see subhuman species running around without a clue i will watch BET

    December 2, 2010 at 2:24 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Phil

    person responsible for writing this article and the so-called editor who
    approved this piece should be clear that the zoo "pandacam" works
    only for Windows users and DOES NOT support Macintosh computers...

    guess CNN is anti-Mac!

    December 2, 2010 at 2:34 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Vonn

    Looking at this cutie, my stress level has gone way, way, way down

    December 2, 2010 at 2:41 pm | Report abuse |
  9. KC

    AWWWE!

    Then they grow up and become teens!

    December 2, 2010 at 2:53 pm | Report abuse |
  10. tomcat

    it will be a sad day when we have to go to a zoo to see anlmals. keep destroying the bio systems or we will have to go to a museum.

    December 2, 2010 at 3:06 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Lexie_Girl

    What an absolutely precious baby !!!

    December 2, 2010 at 3:13 pm | Report abuse |
  12. Colleen Jermyn

    What a precious little baby. I'd rather hear and read news about this type of thing than all of the other garbage we are bombarded with on a daily basis. I pray for a day when this is the only type of news we have. Good news!

    Can't wait to start hearing about more baby tigers coming into the world and more poachers being prosecuted so the tiger doesn't become extinct.

    Thanks for the story CNN!

    December 2, 2010 at 3:19 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Bubba

    Following a Chinese tradition, panda cubs are not named until they are 100 days old.

    December 2, 2010 at 3:57 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Frank

    He kinda looks like a Belgium Sheppard puppy I had when I was a kid.

    December 2, 2010 at 4:05 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Phil, Ohio

    So once a week the Mom gets drugged so they can take the baby and the mother passes on the drugs in her milk to the newborn Panda?
    I'm sure they would just walk in the cage and try to take it from its protective mother!

    December 2, 2010 at 4:18 pm | Report abuse |
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