Help Name This Panda
The baby panda at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., is dong just fine, thank you, say veterinarians who gave him his sixth checkup this week.
They report that the 10-week-old is gaining weight, and may even be getting his first teeth.
The Zoo's Giant Panda curator, Lisa Stevens,
The Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen that he's "doing fantastic. He's growing. He's healthy. And he's just melting hearts everywhere."Giant pandas grow at a tremendous rate, and now he weighs 9 1/2 pounds, and he's almost 23 inches long. He's just growing normally. Actually, he's a little ahead of the statistics that we have.
"When we look in his mouth, he has these little white areas that show that his teeth are almost ready to erupt. He should have teeth in the next month, and he should be starting to eat bamboo in another two months."
But what he doesn't have, says Stevens, is a name.
"One of the things that is wonderful about having pandas is sharing the opportunity to name cubs. And so our public can go to our Web site and cast your vote up until the end of this month. Then we'll have a special naming ceremony when the cub is 100 days old, according to Chinese tradition. And we'll announce that name to everyone."
The choices are Hua Sheng, which means "China Washington" and "magnificent"; Sheng Hua, which means "Washington China" and "magnificent"; Tai Shan, which means "peaceful mountain"; Long Shan, which means "dragon mountain"; and Qiang Qiang, which means "strong, powerful."
The zoo's Web site says, "One lucky person, randomly selected among all voters, will receive a trip for two to Washington, D.C., (including round-trip air transportation and hotel accommodations) and a private, up-close visit with the pandas."
Even though it's growing rapidly, the baby panda spends a lot of time sleeping.
"His mother picks him up when she's back in the den and washes him thoroughly and holds him and allows him to nurse," Stephens says. "She's at the point now where she's spending several hours away from him, and this morning she's already out having some bamboo and some leaf-eater biscuits and wandering around her outdoor enclosure while he's back in the den sleeping."