Giant panda cub in Washington Zoo starts getting black and white markings

WASHINGTON -- Giant panda Mei Xiang's 19-day-old cub, born in the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, now has small visible claws and has started to get black and white markings, the zoo said on Wednesday.

"Our giant panda cub is growing!" Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of giant pandas, wrote in a bulletin published on the zoo's website. She said Mei Xiang remains very focused on caring for her cub.

"Over the next few weeks, we will also see our cub's fur transform from soft and wispy to wooly and thick," she said.

The cub is acclimating to its surroundings well and does not protest as much when Mei Xiang places it on the floor of the den, said Thompson.

When the cub was just 5 days old, it let out some hearty squeals. Now it mostly makes a grunting vocalization, which is normal for a giant panda cub at this age, she said.

Generally, newborn giant pandas open their eyes between 6 and 8 weeks of age, she added.

Mei Xiang, 22, gave birth to the cub on Aug. 21, the seventh since she and male giant panda Tian Tian began living in the zoo in 2000. Three of her cubs have survived to adulthood.

Part of the world-renowned Smithsonian Institution, the national zoo, located in Northwest Washington, D.C., has a decades-long partnership with Chinese scientists and curators on conserving giant pandas.

The Asia Trail, including giant panda viewing, will be temporarily closed beginning Sept. 14 for repaving, said the zoo on Wednesday.