WASHINGTON – The 16-day partial federal shutdown left fans of the National Zoo’s giant panda cub without their fix, and a lot has happened with Mei Xiang’s baby in that time.
The cub reached several developmental milestones during the shutdown, according to the National Zoo:
- At 8 weeks old, the female cub is now 5 pounds, up from 3.07 pounds on Sept. 26.
- The cub started to open its right eye on Oct. 5.
- Both eyes partially opened by Oct. 11.
- The cub’s ears are fully open, and it reacts to what it hears in the panda house.
- The cub now can push itself up on its two front legs and can right itself when it’s on its back.
While the cub won’t walk until about its fourth month, Mei Xiang is leaving the little one for longer periods of time and is eating all of the produce and leaf-eater biscuits keepers are leaving for her.
The zoo released this video:
The zoo said it put the panda cam back online Thursday.
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