A new baby panda may be on its way at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.
On Wednesday, the zoo released an ultrasound video showing 17-year-old giant panda Mei Xiang’s uterus and what they believe to be a panda fetus.
The fetus was first spotted by Zoo veterinarian Don Neiffer, who saw what appeared to be a rib cage and some cranial structure, reports The Washington Post.
“Everything points to this being a really healthy normal pregnancy at this point,” he told the Post. “I am expecting this to progress nicely.”
Vets saw a fetus on Mei Xiang’s ultrasound today. Paws crossed 4 viable pregnancy #PandaStory http://t.co/N981KDFsxL pic.twitter.com/lQwHtDz39Z
— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) August 19, 2015
He did, however, caution that the fetus can be “resorbed,” during which a bear’s cells can be broken down and dispersed. It is also a possibility that Mei Xiang can miscarry.
If the fetus is carried through term, veterinarians predict that based on the fetus’s size, Mei Xiang could give birth as early as next week or as late as the beginning of September.
The panda mother was artificially inseminated twice on April 26 and 27, with frozen sperm collected from Hui Hui, a panda living in China, and fresh sperm collected from another one of the National Zoo’s giant pandas, Tian Tian.
Although Mei Xiang has had false alarms before—six pseudopregnancies to be exact— Neiff was able to identify fetal tissue in an embryonic sack in her uterus, if not a fetal heart rate.
“All signs point to us currently having a healthy, viable fetus, based on the ultrasound. So we are cautiously optimistic.”
Wednesday’s ultrasound was a rare occurrence: vets had been trying to conduct regular ultrasounds, but Mei Xiang was generally reluctant to participate in tests. This time around, however, she was a little more amenable — and was rewarded with honey water.
The Smithsonian National Zoo’s Giant Panda Mei Xiang.
The birth of any panda baby is significant, as there are fewer than 2,000 pandas total (captive and wild) in the world, according to the zoo. Mei Xiang has given birth four times in the past decade, but one cub sadly succumbed to lung and liver failure in 2012, and another was stillborn in 2013.
The zoo said that it is now on 24-hour baby watch, where staff will monitor the giant panda to see if she will give birth.
All paws crossed for a healthy panda baby.
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