A giant panda has given birth to a pair of healthy twins, the third
time that twin cubs have been born in captivity this year in
southwest China's Sichuan Province, it was reported on Sunday.
The twins were born Saturday morning at the Wolong Giant Panda
Protection Research Center, the Xinhua news agency reported.
At
11 years, the mother is at a relatively advanced age, and one of
the twins had to be taken away for bottle-feeding by the center's
staff, as giant pandas can typically only nurse one cub at a time,
Xinhua said.
China currently has 13 pregnant pandas in captivity, and more than
half of them are expecting twins, Xinhua said recently.
That is far better than in the wild, where only one panda is on
record as having given birth to twins.
Captive pandas are more likely to have twins as they are often
inseminated with the sperm of two or more male pandas, according to
previous reports.
The giant panda is one of the world's endangered species, partly
because of reproductive problems stemming from a lack of interest
in sex.
(China
Daily 08/26/2001)