Mei Xiang

Mei Xiang (Chinese 美香 Měi Xiāng [mèiɕjɑ́ŋ] "beautiful fragrance") is a female giant panda who lived at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. Mei Xiang has given birth to seven cubs, all at the National Zoo and fathered by Tian Tian.

Mei Xiang's most recent cub is a male, named Xiao Qi Ji, born on August 21, 2020.

Mei Xiang was born on July 22, 1998, at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, Sichuan Province; she weighs about 230 pounds.

Tian and Mei are trained to participate in a full medical examination, including a blood draw, without anesthesia.

The cub, whom officials believed to have been a female, was found deceased on September 23, 2012, after Mei Xiang expressed distressed, honking-like sounds.

[4][5] On March 30, 2013, veterinarians at the National Zoo artificially inseminated Mei Xiang after natural breeding failed to occur.

She had been displaying behaviors consistent with a pregnancy or pseudopregnancy: spending more time in her den, sleeping more, cradling objects, and licking her body.

A few days after announcing that they had detected fetal tissue, the zoo tweeted a short video of an ultrasound showing a panda fetus.

Mei Xiang and Tai Shan outside in the snow at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington D.C. in February 2006.
Mei Xiang outside in the snow at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington D.C. in February 2010.
Mei Xiang outside at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington D.C. in June 2014.
Mei Xiang munching on bamboo at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington D.C. in November 2017.