Panda Mania

The National Zoo's giant panda gave birth to a cub last night sparking a new wave of panda mania in Washington seven years after the zoo’s only other cub was born in 2005. Officials were delighted, especially because they had not been able to conclusively determine if she were pregnant. Zoo experts did conduct an ultrasound test on the panda on Sept. 4, but it was inconclusive. Apparently it is hard to determine whether a giant panda is pregnant, because the animal can exhibit many false signs, and she has had five consecutive false pregnancies since 2007.