San Diego Zoo Finally Displays It's Newest Panda Cub!

The world famous San Diego Zoo is a fabulous zoo. Their selection of animals and multiple exhibits can keep you entertained for hours. But there is one special aspect of the zoo that sets them apart from the rest. They are breeding pandas at a steady rate, which is not an easy thing to do. There is magic in the air as this new year shows us Zhen Zhen, the newest panda cub at the zoo.

This is the fourth cub for the San Diego Zoo. Considering the difficulty of breeding pandas in captivity, it's quite an accomplishment. The zoo started with just two pandas, and although a couple pandas have gone back to China, they are keeping the population growing here! The San Diego Zoo has the largest amount of giant pandas in the United States.

Back in April Bai Yun successfully mated with Gao Gao. After months of waiting, Zhen Zhen was born on August 3, 2007. The zoo has a 24 hour panda cam to view Zhen Zhen inside of her panda den when she isn't out playing. This camera was the public's chance to see her grow and develop while still confined to the den by her mother, Bai Yun. She made her first debut on December 22^nd to a huge crowd! Zhen Zhen means precious, and was voted on by the public, as all the San Diego Zoo cubs' names have been. She is approximately seventeen pounds, which is a bit bigger than previous cubs! Zhen Zhen has made fantastic progress since she has made her debut at the zoo! She has begun climbing different structures in the "classroom" exhibit, and is spending less and less time inside the den.

With new pandas being born, other pandas must be shipped back to China. Sadly, the San Diego Zoo can only house six pandas at one time. In November of this year, Mei Shing made his journey back to Wolong . Lisa Bryant, of our San Diego Zoo, joined Mei Shing on his long trip back home. Once there, he got a police escort and had an Animal Planet videographer join him on the remainder of his journey. When he arrived at his destination, he had a huge celebratory ceremony!

If you get a chance to visit the amazing exhibit that is the Giant Panda Research Station, bring your walking shoes and a camera! While lines may be long, it is well worth the wait to see all the pandas, and especially the cubs! And here's a little known panda tip: come to the zoo on a rainy day if you can. Pandas love to play in the rain!