Giant panda cub born at Ouwehands zoo

The female giant panda Wu Wen gave birth to a cub at the Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen on Friday. Both pandas are doing well, and resting in a special den set up like a maternity ward, the zoo announced.

"The birth of the young brings a wonderful end to an uncertain period that followed after mating in January. Wu Wen had been staying in her farrowing hole more often and for some time. In recent days she almost never came out," the zoo explained.

The apparently pregnant panda had started acting extremely restless at about 10 a.m. on Friday. She was also grunting and licking between her legs, which led caregivers to predict she was going into labor.

Her first cub was born at about 1:30 p.m. The gender of the cub will not be known to the zoo for the time being. "When the young comes out of the maternity den in a few months we can determine what the sex is. Only then does the little giant panda get a name."

While in the maternity den, the cub will grow bigger and stronger, and learn to walk. Once it is able to follow its mother around they will enter the main panda enclosure together.

Just like its parents, Xing Ya and Wu Wen, the giant panda cub is owned by China. It is expected the cub will remain in the Netherlands for four years before going to China to help breed more pandas.

"Ouwehands Zoo is happy and proud that they contribute in a natural way to the conservation of this endangered species," the zoo said.