The National Zoo’s Twitter feed brings a tiny mouthful of adorable today in the form of a one-week-old red panda cub. The cub joins the two adults already living at the Zoo’s nature trail (we suppose this is how these things usually proceed). Quoth the Zoo’s release on the topic, “It was love at first sight for Shama and Tate, the Zoo’s red pandas, and now, nearly a year and a half after they were introduced, the pair has a cub as evidence of their strong bond. On June 16, Shama gave birth to a single cub—the first for both of the Zoo’s red pandas and the first red panda cub born at the Zoo’s D.C. campus in 15 years.”
Did you know that red pandas were actually the first to get the “panda” moniker, before their black and white brethren? Common internet knowledge seems to indicate that the cub should open his/her eyes at about 18 days, grow full adorable red fur and coloring at about 90 days, and *sniff*, leave the nest around the same time. And unlike other recent adorable births, this lil guy will actually be on display at the zoo when old enough! As of yesterday, the cub weighs 6.5 ounces. So that’s about the size of… what, DCist commenters? A cappuccino? A box of candy?
