Panda gives birth to 1st twins this year
By Liang Chao (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-06 05:50

Giant panda Ying Ying has given birth to twins, the first pair this year, in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, the State Forestry Administration (SFA) announced yesterday.

Although the delivery on Sunday at Sichuan's Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre took 13 hours, both mother and offspring were dong well, said Cao Qingyao, a SFA spokesman.

"This marks the beginning of the year's breeding season for China's captive giant pandas," he added.

One of the cubs was taken away from the mother, as pandas usually only nurture one of their two cubs. Experts will initially hand rear the cub before returning it to Ying Ying's care. In this way, both of the cubs can be well nurtured by their mother, Cao said.

In the past 12 years, scientists at the centre have solved major problems related to the breeding of giant pandas.

In captivity the bears usually have a difficult time conceiving, carrying their pregnancies to full term and looking after their newly born cubs.

A total of 74 cubs have been born at the centre, of which 61 survived.

Last month, the centre was chosen to contribute two pandas to Taiwan.

At the end of last year, 163 giant pandas were raised in captivity throughout China with more than half of them living at the Wolong centre.

China has 1,590 giant pandas in the wild, living in habitats covering more than 23,000 square kilometres across the western provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu, according to the latest SFA inventory.

At the end of 2004, 65 nature reserves were set up for giant pandas to bring 50 per cent of their habitat under effective protection.

(China Daily 07/06/2005 page1)

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