Through a remarkable process referred to as delayed implantation, the fertilized ovum divides a few times and then floats free within the uterus for a few months with its development arrested. Sometime around June or July, the embryo will attach itself to the uterine wall and after a gestation period of three to five and a half months, the giant panda female will enter a rock cavity, bamboo thicket or hollow tree to give birth. Baby panda's weigh only 90 to 130 grams (3.5 to 4 oz.) at birth - about 1/900th of its mother's weight. Litters of one or two cubs are born. If two cubs are born, the mother usually abandons the weaker cub. |