ATLANTA, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Keepers at Zoo Atlanta are keeping a wary eye on their newborn panda to prevent the tiny cub from being harmed by its mother.
On Thursday, a day after the new arrival in Atlanta, a panda cub at a zoo in China was killed accidentally when its mother rolled over on top of it.
"It's something you can't do a whole lot about," said Dr. Dwight Lawson, a vice president at the Atlanta zoo, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. "It's a byproduct of the fact that the mother is so big and the cub is so small."
Pandas have the smallest young relative to the size of the mother of any animal. The cub in Atlanta weighs 4 ounces, while its mother, Lun Lun, weighs 237 pounds, 900 times as much.
Lun Lun has been an attentive mother, keepers say. They were prepared to take the cub away if she seemed to be neglectful, the newspaper said.
Instead, they are waiting until Lun Lun eats -- which may be days or even weeks away -- before they examine the cub and determine its sex.
The public also has a chance to watch Lun Lun and the cub online through the zoo's panda cam.
