Zoo draws visitors to welcome panda cub

ATLANTA --- Visitors flocked to welcome the only panda born at a U.S. zoo so far this year and watch mother and child on a live video feed at Zoo Atlanta on Monday.

The tiny, hairless cub -- which is the size of a stick of butter -- is sequestered with her mom, Lun Lun, in the zoo's birthing den.

The bundle of joy was born Saturday, just a week before the second birthday of Mei Lan, the zoo's first panda cub.

"You can go to every zoo and see elephants, but you can't go to every zoo and see pandas," said Christy Moonan, whose two children, Mia, 3, and Collin, 5, brought small stuffed panda toys with them to watch the cub on television screens.

Zookeepers won't know the sex of the cub for a few weeks until Lun Lun lets them touch her baby, said Megan Wilson, the assistant curator of carnivores at the zoo.

For now, the proud mom is cradling and nursing her cub, Ms. Wilson said.

As Monday's Zoo Atlanta crowd cooed over the pandas, Mei Lan and dad, Yang Yang, napped in separate rooms of the indoor part of the panda habitat. Zoo officials will keep Yang Yang apart from his new cub as they have with Mei Lan, because male pandas in the wild typically don't stay with their offspring.

Zoo officials inseminated Lun Lun with Yang Yang's sperm in April. An ultrasound Thursday confirmed that the procedure was a success.

Watch video of the birth at the Zoo Atlanta website.

Pupil hit by armored truck at bus stop dies

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. --- A middle school pupil who was hit by an armored truck while boarding a school bus has died.

DeKalb County police spokesman Marcus Hodge said Olivia Hayes, a pupil at Tucker Middle School, died Monday after five days at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.

Officials were unsure of her age.

Mr. Hodge said charges have not been filed yet against the driver of the armored vehicle, identified as Brian Gaines, 49, of Snellville.

Police say the bus was stopped Wednesday morning with lights flashing to pick up Olivia, and the truck driver tried to stop but slid into the bus and the girl.

Man on fishing trip with father drowns

GAINESVILLE, GA. --- Authorities say a man drowned while fishing with his father along a north Georgia creek.

Hall County sheriff's Col. Jeff Strickland said Zach Campa, 18, of Suwanee, and his father were fishing Sunday afternoon in different areas when Mr. Campa slipped on rocks, hit his head and fell in the water. His father, Martin Campa, found him.

Rescue workers were unable to resuscitate the man, who was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities say the pair was fishing on the property of Eagle Boys Ranch, a children's home in south Hall County.