Pandas have been removed from the endangered species list and placed in the vulnerable category. Lauren Caskey, assistant curator of the Memphis Zoo, spoke about the animals on FOX Weather Sunrise.
HONG KONG – Giant panda Ying Ying gave birth to two cubs on Thursday, making her the oldest giant panda in history to successfully become a first-time mother, according to Ocean Park Hong Kong.
The cubs were born one day before Ying Ying’s 19th birthday. The Smithsonian National Zoo said giant pandas reach sexual maturity between 4 and 7 years of age.
Ying Ying drinks in the giant panda’s new habitat at Hong Kong Ocean Park, June 30, 2007.
(Pool/Getty Images)
“Giant pandas are notoriously difficult to reproduce, especially as they get older,” Ocean Park officials said. “However, Ying Ying’s perseverance and expert care from the Ocean Park team resulted in the birth of the twin cubs.”
FIRST GIANT PANDAS TO COME TO THE U.S. IN 21 YEARS MAKE THEIR DEBUT
The first giant panda twins were born in Hong Kong. The newborn cubs are a male and a female and weigh about 113 grams each. According to the Smithsonian, a giant panda cub is the smallest newborn mammal relative to its mother’s size, other than baby marsupials.
FILE: Female giant panda holds her pink newborn in her mouth.
(An Yuan/China News Service/Getty Images)
Like all panda cubs, the twins were born small, pink and blind.
Park officials said the animals are currently weakened and are receiving round-the-clock intensive care. The female is being closely monitored because she has a lower body temperature, is crying weaker and has been eating less since giving birth.
The cubs will be shown to the public for the first time in a few months, park officials said.
Giant pandas Ying Ying (right) and Le Le (left) are the parents of the new twins. Here they are on June 30, 2007 in the giant panda habitat in Ocean Park Hong Kong.
(Robert Ng/South China Morning Post/Getty Images)
How to watch FOX WEATHER
One of the challenges of panda reproduction is that females only ovulate once a year and for only two to three days, according to the Smithsonian. This has created complications in expanding the panda population.
