Special and primary election results for State House District 34B primary, St. Paul City Council and more

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., announced Friday that the surviving cub of giant panda Mei Xiang is a boy.

Genetic testing also showed that he was sired by China's panda, Tian Tian, the zoo tweeted.


The cub, along with another, smaller panda cub (also male) that died earlier this week, 

. As we reported this week, "The two cubs were born hours apart; the zoo staff had been attempting to give both of them access to their mother, Mei Xiang, but they reportedly had difficulty in switching the cubs."


No news yet of a potential name. It's unclear whether the zoo will wait 100 days to name the panda, per tradition.


You can follow along in real-time as the panda grows by watching the 

Genetic testing also showed that he was sired by Tian Tian, the zoo announced.

It's a boy! National Zoo reveals surviving panda cub's gender

Go Deeper.

Like this?