World鈥檚 only panda triplets thriving
Print Edition
AN extremely rare set of triplets born to a 12-year-old giant panda in Guangzhou last month seems to be doing well after a tricky start.
Ju Xiao, which means “chrysanthemum smile,” gave birth to the three cubs on July 29 with the first arriving at 1:10am, the second at 3:47am and the third at 4:34am.
However, she was then so exhausted they had to be transferred to incubators at the Chimelong Safari Park.
They are believed to be the world’s only surviving giant panda triplets.
There had been only three known cases of a giant panda having triplets — in 1967, 1999 and 2013 Since artificial breeding began. But all died in the first case and only one survived in the later two.
Now, Ju Xiao has regained her strength and her three babies are all doing well.
The cubs have a round-the-clock team of feeders but are also given back to their mother to be nursed from time to time, park officials said.
A live broadcast on Baidu Baike is following the cubs’ progress (http://baike.baidu.com/view/14589421.htm).
The cubs were naturally conceived when Ju Xiao was paired with 17-year-old Lin Lin at the park, said Dong Guixin, Chimelong’s general manager.
“It was a miracle for us and exceeded our expectations,” he said. “It’s been 15 days. They have lived longer than any other triplets so far.”
The gender of the cubs cannot be determined until they grow older and they would be given names at a later date. When they are 4 years old they will be sent to the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, where their mother was born in 2002.
Pandas, whose natural habitat lies in mountainous southwestern China, have a notoriously low reproductive rate.
So far, 197 of 225 giant pandas born at the center have survived. In 2014, only 1 of the 12 cubs died.
Among the survivors, there are three cases of twins, according to Sichuan’s news portal (www.scol.com.cn).
Giant pandas are one of the world’s most endangered species.
About 1,600 live in the wild, mostly in the mountains of Sichuan, while more than 300 are living in captivity.
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