The twin brother pandas born by female panda Xinxin a month ago in Macau embraced the first batch of visitors in the Giant Panda Pavilion yesterday. The panda care team said both panda cubs are in good health and are growing at a healthy rate.
Unlike their all-pink color at birth, the cubs now have their parents’ black-and-
white appearance. Their ears, eyes, arms, legs and shoulders have turned black, and the hairs have become thicker. Only their noses and faces remain pink.
According to the panda care team, the twin brothers are now able to live outside incubators. The elder cub has increased from his birth weight of 135 grams to over 1,000 grams now, while his younger brother now weighs more than 700 grams, an increase from his initial weight of only 53.8 grams.
According to Huang Wenjun, a care team member and a panda expert from China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, the twin brothers have grown well and all are in good health. However, given that the younger cub weighed less than 54 grams at birth and panda cubs with such birth weight often do not survive, the whole team is continuing their 24-hour observation and care for them.
Huang added that the cubs will then open their eyes, grow out their primary teeth and start to hear and crawl. They will probably live with their mother Xinxin for the next one or two years and after that live independently.
Xinxin and a male panda named Kaikai were chosen from Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in southwest China’s Sichuan Province as a gift from the central government to Macau. MDT/Xinhua
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