National Zoo's giant panda gives birth to her third cub
![Panda born: File photo of giant pandas Tai Shan and his mother Mei Xiang playing during the opening of the Giant Panda Habitat and Asia Trail at the National Zoo in Washington.: Panda Mei Xiang, right, pictured with an older cub, gave birth again on Friday in Washington.]({"default":"http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/ad/fa4443dea4c77fa513f9891e271f6/_h353_w628_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg"})
Reuters![AP]({"default":"http://newsbcpcol.stb.s-msn.com/amnews/i/e3/12e7ff08bf55a6d7449b766b4e23c/_h17_w0_m6_otrue_lfalse.jpg"}){kind=small}
By Associated Press
After the death of a cub last fall, the birth of a panda cub Friday at the Washington National Zoo is joyous. Washington's pandas are treated like royalty.
WASHINGTON — A giant panda at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington has given birth to her third cub.
The zoo said Mei Xiang gave birth at 5:32 p.m. Friday, two hours after her water broke. Zoo officials said the panda team heard the cub vocalize and said Mei Xiang picked the cub up immediately and began cradling and caring for it. The cub's gender wasn't immediately known.
The zoo tweeted, "WE HAVE A CUB!!"
The zoo has been on round-the-clock panda watch since Aug. 7, when Mei Xiang began showing behavioral changes.
A Chinese panda expert performed artificial inseminations on Mei Xiang on March 30 after she failed to breed naturally with male panda Tian Tian.
Mei Xiang had previously given birth to two cubs. Tai Shan was born in 2005 and a week-old cub died last September.
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