Butterstick #2!!!! (National Zoo)

After the euphoria of realizing that Mei Xiang gave birth to a new baby panda yesterday, the National Zoo made this announcement late last night, complete with the above photo: “We can confirm a second cub was born at 10:07. It appears healthy.”

Indeed, there some speculation that Mei Xiang could have been pregnant with twins during yesterday’s afternoon press conference, with chief veterinarian Don Neiffer saying that they wouldn’t know for sure if there was another baby until Mei Xiang “evacuated” her contents later. And this what happened:

The Washington Post reports:

One of the two [cubs] was retrieved, following a special protocol for rearing twins, another zoo spokeswoman said. It was placed in an incubator. It was not clear which of the two cubs it was.

However, the zoo said, both cubs would be given the opportunity to bond with their mother. The zoo’s “panda team” would alternate the cubs between maternal and incubator rearing. One will be nursing and spending time with the mother, while the other would be fed by bottle and kept warm in the incubator.

This method is employed to increase the survival rate of both cubs. Many times when pandas give birth to twins, only one survives.

Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated with sperm from both the National Zoo’s Tian Tian and a panda from China, Hui Hui.

And, to add to the panda fever at the zoo, it’s Bao Bao‘s second birthday!!!

Update: The National Zoo just released this video of the first panda cub: