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The San Diego Zoo's 8-week-old giant panda cub has been gaining one pound a week. At Thursday's weekly veterinary exam she weighed 6.5 pounds and measured 17 inches or 1.4 feet long.

Both of the cub's eyes are now partially open, but Geoff Pye, San Diego Zoo senior veterinarian, says the female cub is likely only seeing shades of light and dark. Over the next couple of weeks her eyesight will sharpen and she will begin to really see her environment.

Following Chinese tradition, the cub, born Aug. 3 at the San Diego Zoo's Giant Panda Research Station, will receive a name after she is 100 days old. Bai Yun and the cub can be seen 24 hours a day through the Zoo's Panda Cam at www.sandiegozoo.org .

The San Diego Zoo is currently home to five giant pandas, Bai Yun and her newborn cub, the father Gao Gao, 4-year-old Mei Sheng and 2-year-old Su Lin.

The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is operated by the not-for-profit Zoological Society of San Diego. The Zoological Society, dedicated to the conservation of endangered species and their habitats, engages in conservation and research work around the globe and is responsible for maintaining accredited horticultural, animal, library, and photo collections. The Zoological Society also manages the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park (more than half of which has been set aside as protected native species habitat) and the center for Conservation and Research for Endangered Species (CRES). The important conservation and science work of these entities is supported in part by the Foundation for the Zoological Society of San Diego.