19-year-old giant panda Ying Ying has given birth to twins at Ocean Park Hong Kong, becoming the oldest giant panda to successfully become a first-time mother. The cubs were born just a day before Ying Ying’s 19th birthday, marking a significant event in the world of wildlife conservation.
Rare Achievement
Ying Ying’s achievement is particularly noteworthy given the well-documented challenges giant pandas face in reproduction, especially as they age. Female pandas are known to ovulate only once a year, and their fertile period lasts just one to three days. The difficulties are compounded by pandas’ natural tendency to live in isolation, which further limits their opportunities to mate. Despite these challenges, Ying Ying’s perseverance, alongside expert care from Ocean Park’s team, led to the successful birth of her twins.
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Fragile Newborns
The newborn cubs, a male weighing 112 grams and a female at 122 grams, are currently under 24-hour intensive care. Like all panda cubs, they were born small, pink, and blind, and their fragility requires constant monitoring. Ocean Park officials have expressed particular concern for the female cub, who has shown signs of weakness, including a lower body temperature, weaker cries, and lower food intake compared to her brother.
Years in the Making
Ying Ying’s journey to motherhood has not been an easy one. Since arriving at Ocean Park in 2007 as a gift from the Chinese government, she had experienced a series of miscarriages and unsuccessful mating attempts with her partner, Le Le. The successful birth of the twins is the culmination of over a decade of efforts by both the panda and her caregivers.
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Ying Ying’s story is part of a broader narrative of panda conservation efforts led by China. With only around 1,800 pandas remaining in the wild, primarily in the mountains of Sichuan, western China, and about 600 in captivity, the species remains vulnerable. However, due to concerted conservation efforts, including the creation of expansive reserves and breeding programs, the giant panda population has seen a resurgence. In 2017, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) upgraded the species from “endangered” to “vulnerable,” reflecting a nearly 17% population growth over the previous decade.