National Zoo’s Panda Baby Timeline
Took this from the Lexington Herald-Leader:
| 1972 | Hsing-Hsing and his female mate, Ling-Ling, arrive as a gift from the Chinese government following President Nixon’s trip to Beijing. They do not mate until 1983. |
| 1992 | Years of fruitless attempts to breed the pair end with the sudden death of the female, Ling-Ling, 23. She had given birth five times, but none of the cubs lived. |
| 1999 | Hsing-Hsing, 28, suffering from several-diseases, is put to death. |
| 2000 | Mei Xiang, 2, and Tian Tian, 3, arrive on loan for 10 years from China for $10 million. The fee is paid by donors, including Fujifilm and Animal Planet. Also that year, Hua Mei becomes the nation’s first giant-panda born by artificial insemination, in San Diego. |
| 2003 | Mei Xiang and Tian Tian mate, but no-pregnancy develops. |
| 2004 | Mei Xiang is artificially inseminated. No-pregnancy is developed. |
| 11 March 2005 | Mei Xiang is artificially inseminated. |
| 9 July 2005 | A panda cub weighing a few ounces is born at 3:41 a.m. |
