[Notes:Sept. 17, 2012][Notes:AP][Notes:Washington][Notes:Brandie Smith / Senior Curator, National Zoo]SOT: We had a baby panda at the National Zoo at 10:46 last night.SOT: We monitor her 24 hours starting about 2 weeks ago, we've been watching her for 24 hours a day and as soon as we heard the little squeaks of that baby panda cub I got a phone call and we kind of set everything in motion, everybody came into the zoo.SOT: So I'd say about 4-5 months from now we'll have a, hopefully we'll be able to open to the public.[Notes:Meredith Davis / Chevy Chase, MD.]SOT: But they can still see this one panda out here. And we'll come back to see the baby.[Notes:Brandie Smith / Senior Curator, National Zoo]SOT: We are very fortunate that we have one of the world's experts in the care and feeding of giant panda babies, and that is Mei Xiang, the baby's mother. So she knows exactly what to do. She took great care of Tai Shan when he was born and she's already taking great care of this baby right now.[Notes:Eric Etter / Reston, Va.]SOT: It's wonderful. I mean, more pandas, more animals the children here really love the zoo.[Notes:Brandie Smith / Senior Curator, National Zoo]SOT: We do not want anything to disturb Mei Xiang right now. These next few days, few weeks are critical. And we don't want anything to disturb her or startle her so we closed the area off directly above and around the panda exhibit.SOT: Well after we had Tai Shan in 2005 and since then we've attempted five times since then hoping that Mei Xiang would be pregnant and this is the lucky year.[Notes:National Zoo][Notes:Panda cam]STORYLINE:A giant panda at the Smithsonian's National Zoo is a mother for the second time, giving birth to a cub after years of failed pregnancies. Scientists at the zoo had all but given up on Mei Xiang's chances of conceiving, but late Sunday, the 14-year-old Panda gave birth to a hairless cub that is about the size of a stick of butter. The next few days will be critical and the newborn, as part of Chinese tradition, will be named when it is 100 days old. Just four zoos in the U.S. have pandas, and Washington's pandas have special significance. They were the nation's first set of pandas in 1972, a gift from China to commemorate President Richard Nixon's historic visit to the country. The current panda couple, Mei Xiang and her mate Tian Tian, are only the second pair of pandas to live at the zoo. They're treated like royalty, and any offspring gets immediate star status. "There's something very special here with our pandas," giant panda curator Brandie Smith. "Everyone is part of our family. We, Washington, D.C., have had a baby panda cub." Mei Xiang gave birth to her first cub, a male named Tai Shan, in 2005. Zoo officials tried artificially inseminating her five times since 2007. Each time, Mei Xiang went through what is called a "pseudopregnancy," building a nest and experiencing high hormone levels. But each time there was no cub. Scientists at the zoo worried she had become infertile and believed there was a less than a 10 percent chance she would become pregnant after so many failed attempts. As a result, they had considered replacing Mei Xiang or 15-year-old Tian Tian with other pandas. Still, there was hope and they attempted artificial insemination again this year.(****END****) ANCHOR VOICE: -------------------------VIDEO PRODUCER: ---------------------------VIDEO SOURCE: AP, National Zoo-----------------------VIDEO APPROVAL: ----------------------------VIDEO RESTRICTIONS: None----------------------------------MARKET EMBARGO (S): --------------------------------SCRIPT/WIRE SOURCE: