|
|
Article: Pitter -Patter of New Panda Expected; Zoo Plans All-Out Effort to Keep Ling-Ling's Cub Healthy
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 24, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, the nation's celebrated giant panda
pair, are expected to become parents again by early August, and
experts at the National Zoo are readying never-before-tried measures
to retrieve a new cub from mother Ling-Ling and inject it with
immunity-producing antibodies from father Hsing-Hsing's blood.
Such human manipulation, which includes anesthetizing the mother
shortly after she gives birth and returning the cub to her later, is
normally taboo with pandas. The mother-cub bond is often fragile,
and zoos have never successfully hand-raised a panda cub.
But, after four cub deaths, the National Zoo has chosen to mount
a full-court press of human help this time, ...