Liang Liang gave birth to a cub at Zoo Negara Malaysia on August 18, 2015
Liang Liang (Feng Yi) gave birth to the first giant panda born in Malaysia on August 18, 2015. The cub was safely delivered at 1.45pm at Zoo Negara in Kuala Lumpur.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak via his Twitter account (@NajibRazak) announced the good news to the Malaysians:
“Gembira mendapat berita bahawa Liang Liang, panda di Zoo Negara, telah selamat melahirkan seekor anak pada 1.45 tengah hari tadi.” (Received the good news that Liang Liang, the panda at Zoo Negara, has given birth to a cub at 1.45 this afternoon)
Chet Chin, volunteer at Zoo Negara Mayalsia, wrote on her blog www.mypandas.org:
Fu Wa and Feng Yi had mated on 7 May 2015 but the mating was not considered a success. What the mating achieved, especially the days leading up to that day, was Fu Wa learning to get into the right position to mount Feng Yi. This was important; even if the mating didn’t result in a baby this year, the chances for next year would be much better as he’d learned what to do.
At a press briefing on 11 July 2015, Dr. Mat Naim Bin Haji Ramli, Director of Zoology, Hospital & Veterinarian Services & Giant Panda Conservation Centre, had announced that there would be no panda baby for Malaysia this year. So about two weeks ago, when Feng Yi started going off her food and sleeping lots – behaviour identical to this time last year – we just thought she was experiencing a pseudopregnancy.
She’d sleep the whole day while on exhibit in her yard, and often in a corner. This afternoon, she was not in her usual corner but right beneath the bridge, when Kalai, one of the panda rangers on duty, noticed blood on her. Kalai alerted Akmal, one of the keepers. He went in to check and as he did so, a loud squawk came from somewhere on Feng Yi’s body. It was the squawk of a newborn giant panda cub. Feng Yi had given birth.
How could this be? She had not shown any signs of restlessness in recent days. She had not been building a nest, a sure sign that a baby would be born within days. She had not done any of the things a soon-to-be panda mum would do. And the birth was a real easy one, too. No pacing, no rolling on her back. What happened? A miracle. That’s what happened.
That initial squawk, and others that followed, proved that she had indeed given birth. At 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday, 18 August 2015. Outside in her yard in the exhibit hall. A miracle. Our very own Malaysian giant panda miracle.
Feng Yi and Fu Wa’s cub is a female and her weight at birth was 175 grams.
