Bai Yun, a female giant panda from China, gave birth on Tuesday to the first of her twin cubs in the San Diego Zoo, on the United States west coast.

Scientists at the zoo were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the second cub. But it could take as long as another 12 hours for the 13-year-old Bai Yun to deliver the second cub, a spokeswoman for the zoo told Xinhua.

"It's an exciting day for us," Don Lindburg, head of the zoo's panda team, told reporters. "Any moment from now we could have a second cub on the ground."
Scientists have closely monitored Bai Yun in recent weeks. On August 3, they confirmed that Bai Yun was pregnant with twins during a routine ultrasound procedure. Veterinarians were also able to differentiate heartbeats from each fetus.

Lindburg said scientists would have to do genetic testing to determine which of the two male pandas of the zoo is the father.

Bai Yun mated once during a three-day breeding period in late March with Gao Gao, a male panda who arrived earlier this year from China. But during the same time period, Bai Yun was artificially inseminated with semen from Shi Shi, a male panda who returned to China.

This is the second time that Bai Yun has given birth in the San Diego Zoo. In 1999, she gave birth to a female panda, named Hua Mei, after being artificially inseminated with sperm from Shi Shi.

The giant panda is an endangered species, with only about 1,000 remaining in the wild in western and central China.

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