‘A good day’: giant panda’s pregnancy brings cheer to US National Zoo

Washington: Animal lovers rejoice: Mei Xiang, a 22-year-old giant panda at the National Zoo in Washington, DC will give birth in a matter of days, according to zoo officials, in what could be her fourth successful pregnancy.

The event is a much-needed bit of good news for the National Zoo, which had to close for months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Monday, the zoo posted a video of the giant panda’s ultrasound on its social media channels that captured the fetus in motion and confirmed the pregnancy.

“As soon as I saw this image of the infant fetus with a beating heart and the skeletal structures, I’m like, all right, not only do we have a really good picture, but we’ve got movement,” Don Neiffer, the zoo’s chief veterinarian told Reuters on Tuesday. “Yesterday was definitely a good day.”