 Qing Qing Cradles Her Newborn
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Sept. 10, 2003 — A world record was broken Tuesday at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center when Qing Qing gave birth to her 13th baby, according to state media.
The 19-year-old giant panda was likely to break her own captive breeding record later Tuesday, as doctors believed she was carrying twins, Xinhua reported.
Yu Jianqiu, proud director of the center, said Qing Qing has delivered 13 babies in nine births since she had her first panda cub in 1989. She was mated with two separate captive males to produce her latest offspring.
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Another panda raised at the Chengdu center, Mei Mei, was also nursing new pandas Tuesday after delivering twins a day earlier at the Shirahama Zoo in Wakayama, Japan.
Mei Mei, who has borne five babies since she was born in 1994, has been on loan to the Japanese zoo since 2000 as part of a giant panda reproduction program.
Pandas are among the world's most endangered animals. Currently about 1,000 of the black-and-white bamboo-eating beasts remain in the wild, while a total of 140 are in captive breeding programs worldwide.
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Name: Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
Primary Classification: Ursidae (Bears) Location: The Sichuan, Gansu and Shanxi provinces in central China. Habitat: Temperate bamboo forests. Diet: Bamboo (almost exclusively.) Size: Up to 6 ft in length and 250 lbs in weight. Description: Black fur on ears, eye patches, muzzle, legs and shoulders. White fur everywhere else. Thick, woolly coat. Broad, round face and flat nose. Large molars. Round, protruding ears. Round body with short, sturdy limbs. Cool Facts: Mothers will eat their cubs' stools to eliminate any evidence of their presence, thereby avoiding potential predators. They need to eat more than 22 lbs of bamboo per day to satisfy their daily requirement of nutrients. Conservation Status: Endangered Major Threat: Habitat loss and poaching. What Can I Do?: Visit the World Wildlife Fund and The Hong Kong Society for Panda Conservation for information on how you can help. |
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