Baby panda doing well, vocalizing often

Zoo Atlanta officials said its new panda is gaining weight and vocalizing often, good signs of his improving health.

In an e-mailed update Wednesday, Dwight Lawson said the male cub is up to 128 grams.

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John Spink / jspink@ajc.com

Zoo Atlanta’s J.T. Svoke keeps an eye on Lun Lun recently.

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“The cub started Day 4 at a panda-typical 128 grams, adding an impressive 7 percent to his body weight since yesterday, but still small and fragile enough for it to take a few more days and weeks before we can relax,” said Lawson, the zoo’s senior vice president, collections, education and conservation.

To make sure the newborn continues to progress, the staff is removing the cub for frequent check ups, Lawson said. For instance, they checked on him at 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tuesday and again at 3 a.m. on Wednesday.

“Lun Lun is demonstrating excellent maternal behavior,” Lawson said. “Our intention is to increase the time between these exams as our confidence grows in the cub’s progress.” The cub was born at 10:10 p.m. Saturday. He is the second cub of giant panda mom Lun Lun. Her daughter Mei Lan was born in 2006 and will celebrate her second birthday Saturday.

Zoo officials first removed the baby from Lun Lun’s care late Monday after she put it down twice, an unusual occurrence for pandas who are extremely protective of their offspring the first few weeks of life. When the panda was put down the second time, it was not moving or vocalizing, scaring officials.

Lun Lun has handled the interval removals of her offspring better than zoo officials expected, Lawson said.

“She does show some agitation when the cub is removed, but settles quickly when the keepers offer her water and sugar cane,” he said. “She responds to the cub immediately when it’s returned, cradling and nursing the cub without missing a beat.”

Why Lun Lun released the cub so early in its development and why its temperature and health declined so suddenly Monday are still unknown, Lawson said.

“In all likelihood, we will not know for sure,” he said. “The last 18 hours indicate that Lun Lun is producing enough milk and appropriately caring for the cub. The cub has also been vigorous in his vocalizations and has been suckling enough to continue to put on weight.”