![]() The population of wild pandas has ticked up gradually, reaching an estimated 1,800. The efforts have paid off, with some captive-bred pandas being released into the wild. State media gave no word on the father, but Chinese veterinarians for years have been using artificial insemination to boost the population of the animals, which reproduce rarely in the wild and rely on a diet of bamboo in the mountains of western China. Qin Qin was also born at the center and previously gave birth to twin females in 2020. Original article on Live Science.Animals Twin panda cubs delight devoted fans at Tokyo zoo in a COVID shortened debut Follow Live Science, Facebook & Google+. "Our job is to make sure that both mom and cub survive."įollow Laura Geggel on Twitter. "Right now, we still have a healthy mom and one very healthy baby," said Brandie Smith, associate director for animal care sciences at Smithsonian's National Zoo. ![]() Moving forward, the team will concentrate on caring for the surviving twin and its mother. ![]() Researchers hope a necropsy will tell them more about the cub's death. It doesn't appear that Mei Xiang did anything out of character to the little twin during the night but she's about 1,500 times larger than her offspring, so it's not always easy to see them on the panda cam, Neiffer said. Nothing seemed out of place during the nighttime, and the little panda's health problems only became apparent this morning. 25), and both cubs "were vocalizing, were strong, and showing us no signs of concern," he said. Zookeepers performed a successful swap on Tuesday afternoon (Aug. "During the swap-back times, there were days when she was a little less interested in taking that baby, but that occurred where either baby is concerned," Neiffer said. Zookeepers reported she didn't appear to show a preference for either cub, but she just didn't seem to like the swaps. However, Mei Xiang appeared to grow wary of the baby swaps. Meanwhile, zookeepers and veterinarians would care for the other cub in the incubator, feeding it formula made of water, human baby formula and puppy formula, the zoo reported. When Mei Xiang had a cub, she would often nurse it and snuggle it in a warm part of her body, such as her armpit, to keep the cub warm, as newborn pandas can't regulate their own body temperature, Neiffer said. Pandas don't have a great track record of caring for twins by themselves, so following a protocol used by other zoos and panda experts in China, the National Zoo decided to move forward with swapping the panda twins between their mother and the incubator. EDT and the second at 10:07 p.m., the zoo reported.Īfter delivering the second cub, Mei Xiang showed "some frantic behavior on her part, trying to literally balance and juggle these two kids at the same time," Neiffer said. The panda twins were born later that day, the first at 5:35 p.m. 22) Mei Xiang became restless and began having contractions, Laurie Thompson, a giant panda biologist at Smithsonian's National Zoo, told Live Science. Zoo officials artificially inseminated Mei Xiang with semen from two male giant pandas ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca) in late April - Hui Hui (h-WEI h-WEI), a panda living in the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan, China, and Tian Tian (t-YEN t-YEN), who resides at the National Zoo. Her surviving offspring are Tai Shan (born in 2005), who now lives in China Bao Bao (born in 2013), who lives at the National Zoo and the living panda twin, which will be named after 100 days. The 17-year-old Mei Xiang has given birth to six pandas, and the little cub is the third to die (one was a stillborn and the other died after six days from liver damage, likely because its lungs were underdeveloped). "We're all extremely happy with this cub's progress." ![]() "It's very robust and very strong, and is demonstrating all normal behaviors," Neiffer said.
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