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Exciting News: Ueno Zoo Panda Welcomes Twins!
Photo Credit: Unsplash
After facing endangerment for an extensive period, the conservation and breeding efforts have successfully raised the status of the Chinese giant panda to being classified as a vulnerable species. According to the latest data from the World Wildlife Organization, approximately 1,864 pandas currently exist in the wild. Encouraging giant pandas to reproduce is notoriously challenging, whether in their natural habitat or in captivity. Female giant pandas only enter their breeding cycle once a year, have high standards when selecting a mate, and in rare cases, some pandas may go so long without reproducing that they actually lose the ability to do so. Hence, the birth of a few more pandas is truly a reason to celebrate.
In Tokyo, Japan’s Ueno Zoo, the female giant panda, Shin Shin, has successfully given birth to not one, but two adorable cubs in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Although the precise weights and genders of the cubs are yet to be determined, both are approximately the size of a human adult hand and appear to be in good health.
On its panda website, the zoo mentioned, “All staff members are working collaboratively to monitor and safeguard the well-being of the giant panda mother and her newborns.”
Congratulations are in order! Shin Shin, a 15-year-old giant panda at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, has given birth to twins. ??https://t.co/iOoJo0Mgm0
— The New York Times (@nytimes) June 23, 2021
Shin Shin and her partner Ri Ri have resided at the Ueno Zoo for roughly a decade, having been relocated there after being born at the Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, China. The pair previously welcomed a female cub named Xiang Xiang in 2017, who still resides with them. The zoo has not announced when the new cubs will make their public debut; Shin Shin has been kept away from the public eye since the zoo reopened earlier this month after the pandemic-related closure, to ensure a smooth and healthy birth process.
Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Katsunobu Kato, expressed his joy, stating, “The panda family is now a happy family of five. This news brings so much happiness. I believe that everyone at the zoo is working tirelessly day and night to ensure the well-being of the panda family. I hope everyone will warmly and silently support them.”
