Tonight comes word that Lun Lun the Panda, here at Zoo Atlanta has given birth to her first cub.  My wife, son and I had a hint of what might soon come - we stopped by to check the Pandas out during one of our frequent visits to the nearby zoo on Saturday with whispers that this might be ‘the one’ from the crew attached to the Panda exhibit.

Keep an eye on the Panda Cam for future updates.

The news tonight via Zoo Atlanta’s Member E-Newsletter:

Everyone jump for joy: our giant panda female, Lun Lun (pronounced “loon loon”), has delivered her first cub!

The nearly furless baby, born just before 5 p.m. Wednesday, is healthy and being cared for by its mother.

The baby’s sex is not known, and might not be for weeks, until Lun Lun lets zookeepers get a look at it. Zoo policy is not to intervene in maternal care unless something goes wrong.

Our giant panda curator team and the Zoo Atlanta veterinary team are closely monitoring Lun Lun for a potential second birth. Twin births occur nearly 50% of the time in giant pandas and could occur 12 to 24 hours after the first birth.

If it survives, the new cub, estimated to weigh just 4 ounces and is about the size of a stick of butter, would be only the fifth born and raised successfully in a U.S. zoo. The historic birth represents a significant achievement for the critically endangered panda species and for Zoo Atlanta. It will be three to four months before the cub can be seen by the public.