Meet Mei Sheng, He's 'born In The Usa'

[cosmichedgehog]

Kandula_the_elephant_11 Posted: Dec 21 2003, 06:23 PM
Mei Sheng (May-Shun) made his entrance into the world on August 19, 2003 at 1:14 p.m. (PT). He is the first male to be delivered by mother Bai Yun as well as being the second cub to be born at the SBC Giant Panda Research Station. Bai Yun's first cub is, of course, the beloved Hua Mei, who was born in August 1999.

Meaning "Born in the USA" and "Beautiful Life," Mei Sheng has become an instant favorite of panda lovers worldwide, as they have followed his progress from his first week via the Panda Cam. Though he and Hua Mei share the same mother, it was not immediately known who was his father, as mother Bai Yun had mated with male Gao Gao during her estrus period, and was also artificially inseminated with frozen sperm from Shi Shi, who is Hua Mei's sire and now lives in China.

In November 2003, genetics researchers from CRES determined the cub's father to be Gao Gao. The much-anticipated result became available after separate DNA tests were conducted with the use of the cub's hair and saliva, which were obtained by the Zoo's veterinary staff during weekly exams. DNA from Bai Yun, the cub's mother, and Shi Shi, sire of the Zoo's female panda Hua Mei, was taken from blood, while Gao Gao's DNA was from a cell culture.

Just like his older half-sister Hua Mei, Mei Sheng has become a media darling and has been closely followed and documented through the Panda Cam, as well as through videos and photographs taken during his weekly physical exams.

check it out about on Meet Mei Sheng CLICK HERE


Jay Posted: Dec 21 2003, 11:22 PM
I like the weekly pictures of the baby panda. Pandas sure grow up fast.

As for people not saying anything, there are two reasons. First, most members here are very busy and can only check this web site occasionally, sometimes just once a day. Second, people usually enjoy pictures and stories like these without saying anything.

Also, the elephant picture sure is big in your signature. Instead of having the picture appear after all of your posts, it might be better to use the "http" option in your signature and say something like "To see a picture of Kandula the elephant, click here." That will make these posts pop up faster for people with slow modem connections (like me).

I hope I see more posts in the future giving me links to stories and pictures as nice as for the panda.