Bear Bliss

Vienna Welcomes Surprise Panda Love Child

The first baby panda born in European captivity in a quarter century came into the world in Vienna on Thursday. He's not cute yet, but Knut's reign as Europe's favorite bear may be numbered.

Move over Knut! It's time to meet the new star on the European baby bear circuit.

Weighing in at just 100 grams (3.5 ounces), only 10 centimeters long and as yet without a name, the most recent ursine wonder -- born on Thursday in the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna -- is the first baby panda to be born in a European zoo since 1982.

Berlin's famous polar bear, though, has a bit of time to get used to the idea of being shoved unceremoniously out of the spotlight. The new giant panda -- born to Yang Yang, who is on loan from China -- has no hair and likely won't start crawling for another four months. Zookeepers won't even know its gender for about three weeks.

Still, the zoo is ecstatic about the new arrival. And it came as something of a surprise. An ultrasound on Yang Yang at the beginning of the month had revealed no signs of pregnancy. A few days ago, keepers started getting suspicious as the seven-year-old panda began building a nest -- though it wasn't the first time she had done so. Then, on Thursday, a surveillance camera began detecting squeals coming from Yang Yang's enclosure.

Of particular note, Yang Yang was naturally impregnated rather than being artificially inseminated as giant pandas often are in captivity. Indeed, zoos have often resorted to showing often-reticent pandas ursine porn films to try to get them in the mood.

Yang Yang, whose name means "Sunshine" in Chinese, seems to be off to a good start, having accepted her newborn. It is not uncommon for animals in captivity to reject offspring -- as happened to Knut, who was famously raised by keeper Thomas Dörflein. The Viennese zoo has an incubator and artificial milk ready in case Yang Yang changes her mind.

Still, there are challenges ahead. Only about 60 percent of baby pandas survive their first year. The officials at the Vienna zoo, however, are likely to do all they can to help Yang Yang out.

Knut, after all, doubled attendance at the Berlin zoo since he made his first public appearance in March. Schönbrunn is no doubt hoping its newest addition will do the same for them.

cgh/ap