It’s a girl: Japan zoo’s star panda baby gets a check up

The nameless cub has been doing well, drinking mother ShinShin’s milk.

Zoo official Mikako Kaneko shows images of the female cub of giant panda Shin Shin in Tokyo. The little cub appears to be in good health. Kazuhiro Nogi / AFP Photo

TOKYO // The baby panda who has become an overnight celebrity in Japan is a girl.

On Friday, Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo reported that the panda, born on June 12, had been declared female after being examined by experts.

Determining the gender of a newborn panda is difficult. The zoo had also been careful not to separate the baby from her mother, and the two short periods they took her away were not enough to determine the sex.

The nameless cub has been doing well, drinking milk from mother ShinShin.

Giant panda cubs gradually get black markings on their ears, eyes and paws. The zoo released a photo that showed a pinkish mouse-like creature with some dark patches on its body. Earlier video showed the mother gently cradling the cub and apparently breastfeeding it.

The baby, which measures less than 18-centimetres will not be on public view for probably six months, according to the zoo. But she is already drawing crowds in due to the Japanese weakness for kawaii, or cute, things.

Japanese media has been feeding daily reports on the little panda as well as footage of children getting excited at the zoo. The public is being asked to give her a name, although details are still sketchy.

In 2012, the last cub born at the zoo, also ShinShin’s, survived only six days. The fact that this baby has survived more than 10 days is a good sign, although experts say it will remain fragile for the first few months.

Kansai University professor Katsuhiro Miyamoto estimates Tokyo’s economy will get a 26.7 billion yen (Dh880 million) lift from the baby, including panda-related goods, zoo admission fees and other spending over the next year.

The zoo said ShinShin was also doing well, eating bamboo and drinking water. Mother and baby appear to be in stable condition but the zoo will continue to monitor them around the clock.

The first panda to be born in captivity in Japan was in 1985, at Ueno Zoo, and it lived only 43 hours.

About 420 giant pandas live in captivity, mostly in China, while about 1,860 live in the wild. For decades, China has made gifts of the country’s unofficial national mascot to friendly nations in what is known as “panda diplomacy.” The country more recently has loaned pandas to zoos on commercial terms.

* Associated Press