AMERICAN GIANT PANDA BREEDS IN CHINA

September 3, 2005

American-born panda Hua Mei gives birth to twin cubs

www.chinaview.cn 2005-09-01 17:08:56

CHENGDU, Sept.1 (Xinhuanet) --American-born panda Hua Mei, who lives at the

China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in south China's Sichuan

Province, gave birth to a pair of cubs on Monday.

The baby pandas are in good condition.

They are the second twin cubs delivered by Hua Mei. Hua Mei gave birth to

another pair one year ago, said Zhang Hemin, head of the China Giant Panda

Protection and Research Center in Wolong, Sichuan Province.

The first cub was produced at 5:40 p.m. on Monday. Its weight is unknown, as

it has been taken care of by the mother panda since birth.

" Judging from the appearance of and the sound the baby cub made, it is doing

just fine, " said Zhang.

The second cub, male and with a weight of 111 grams, was delivered 20

minutes later and is being kept in an incubator.

Hua Mei, meaning " China-America " in Chinese, was born in 1999 to Bai Yun and

Shi Shi, a panda couple leased by China to the San Diego Zoo, California, U.S.,

in 1996 as part of a 12-year research cooperation program between the two

nations.

Six-year-old Hua Mei is the first overseas-born panda. It was returned to

China in February last year. Hua Mei became pregnant via artificial insemination

on May 8 this year after various attempts at natural mating with two other male

adult pandas failed.

A female panda normally becomes sexually mature at four to five years old.

They only get pregnant once a year, giving birth to one or two cubs at a time.

Panda gestation lasts 83 to 181 days.

Pandas are among the world's most endangered species. Statistics from the

State Forestry Administration show that the number of pandas in the wild in

China has risen by more than 40 percent from 1,110 in the 1980s to over 1,590

today, while a total of 161 are in captive breeding programs worldwide. Enditem

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