By Xinyi Li, Xingchen Yue, iChongqing News
Chongqing - On July 16, there were four new panda babies born. On June 23, two groups of panda twins were born by Lan Xiang and Mang Zai on the same day. It is the first case of Chongqing Zoo’s history of captive pandas of the past 60 years. Moreover, it is also a rare miracle.
Twin brothers and twin sisters, whose mothers gave birth to twins before
At 00:11 and 00:51 on the morning of June 23, Lan Xiang gave birth to twin brothers. The elder one has 167 grams while the younger one has 115 grams and both of them fed from their mother that same day.
Lan Xiang's twin babies
In addition, Lan Xiang had bred a twin, Yu Bao, and Yu Bei (meaning the baby or treasure of Chongqing) before, in 2016. Lan Xiang was born in Wolong Sichuan in 2002, and she is 17 years old this year. Although she is an elderly panda mother, babies and the mother are all healthy.
On the other side, Mang Zai gave birth to twin sisters at 5:14 and 5:42 p.m. on June 23. The elder one has 142 grams while the younger one has 160 grams, getting the colostrum the first too.
Mang Zai's twin babies
Both of these two panda mothers became pregnant naturally. On July 15, the older baby of Lan Xiang was 950.6 grams while the younger one was 755.5 grams. The older baby of Mang Zai was 615.4 grams while the younger one was 613.7 grams.
Why is natural Panda birth in the zoo system is so rare? Chen Jianbin, the breeding expert from Bifengxia Panda Base, indicated that it happens rarely because the numbers of pandas in zoos are so small and the time of their copulation was different. Lan Xiang mated on March 6 this year and the time of Mang Zai’s mating was February 22. Besides, the estrous cycle, gestation time of pandas is different, particularly, gestation time of a panda can be 72 to 324 days. Therefore, there is a small probability of which two pandas had different periods of mating and gestation.
Lan Xiang and one of her baby
Special breeding: two sets of newborns in 24 hours
Chongqing Zoo started to feed pandas in the 1960s and began to breed them in the 1980s. Until now, Chongqing Zoo has had a very successful technique and rich experiences in panda fields. Additionally, the zoo succeeded to achieve the artificial birth of panda twins for the first time in 2016.
From the time Chongqing Zoo started to breed pandas in the 1980s, they had bred pandas 25 times with 36 pandas, among which there are 9 groups of twins and 1 triplet.
Mang Zai and one of her baby
"Artificial-assisted panda-rearing is the best choice to increase the survival rate for panda babies, said Yin Yanqiang, the panda technology supervisor of Chongqing Zoo. "We bring one baby in the nursery while another one is with its mother to keep each one can eat milk and then swap around."
Why does a panda mother need manual intervention? It is because a panda mother will have trouble breeding two babies at the same time. In nature, the mother always chooses to give up the weaker one and breed the stronger baby. Thus, the zoo conducts a manual intervention to keep both babies can survive.
An assistant is helping panda baby with defecation
In Chongqing Zoo, Lan Xiang and Mang Zai have a unique feeding schedule. Assistants regulate diet structure for mothers and help babies with defecation and feeding in round-the-clock rotation. They also adjust the temperature and humidity for the nursery, based on babies’ growth conditions.
The oldest panda in the world with 137 offspring including the four newborns
There are 12 pandas which visitors can see (the four newborns not included), of which there are nine females and three males. Xin Xing, means the new star, is the oldest one in the world, who is 37 years old, which means she is more than 110 years old in human years.
According to data from 2018, Xin Xing has 137 offspring throughout the world, in countries such as the United States, Canada, Belgium, and Japan. For this time, the four newborns are the fourth generation offspring of Xin Xing.
The oldest panda Xin Xing in the world
To invite you to take part in the full-moon party
Chongqing Zoo will invite ten groups of twins to celebrate the first month of newborn babies on July 23 there. There will be no age or family registration requirements.
You can follow the official WeChat account Chongqing Zoo (重庆动物园) to leave a message to them. Alternatively, you can also call them to sign up: +86-23- 68407374.
At 09:30 in the morning on July 23, you can sign in with ID or passport to have fun in Chongqing Zoo for free. Twins, who failed to register, can also visit Chongqing Zoo for free.
Related link:
Travel Guide: Have Fun with Pandas in Chongqing Zoo!