Year's first captive giant panda cub born in Sichuan

The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda announced on Wednesday that the first captive giant panda cub of the year was born at its base in Sichuan province, marking the start of the center's annual "panda delivery season".

The cub was delivered on Saturday night by 7-year-old female panda Ling Lang at the Shenshuping base in Wolong, located in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture.

Ling Lang had mated with male panda Ya Xing in early March and began showing signs of pregnancy in late May, including reduced appetite and activity. She went into labor at around 3 pm on Saturday and gave birth at 11:50 pm, according to the center.

"Although Ling Lang is a first-time mother, she demonstrated excellent maternal instincts," said Wu Honglin, deputy director of the Shenshuping base. "She smoothly completed actions such as carrying the cub, protecting it and licking its body."

To avoid disturbing the bond between mother and cub, staff have not yet conducted a physical examination on the newborn, Wu said.

Both the mother and cub are currently in good health under the care of the center's breeding team, officials said.

The center added that its base in Ya'an, also in Sichuan, has made full preparations for additional panda births expected this year.

Since the 1980s, researchers at the center have overcome three major challenges in breeding captive giant pandas — estrus, mating and cub survival.

"This breakthrough significantly improved the reproductive capacity and quality of the captive giant panda population," said Li Desheng, the center's chief expert. He noted that 75 percent of breeding-age female pandas and 50 percent of breeding-age males have produced offspring.

The center's captive panda population has increased from six in 1983 to more than 380 today — the largest such population in the world — and now boasts self-sustaining growth with improved genetic diversity.

Data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration show the global captive giant panda population reached 757 by the end of last year.

Meanwhile, the wild population of giant pandas in China has risen from about 1,100 in the 1980s to an estimated 1,900.

In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature reclassified the species from "endangered" to "vulnerable", recognizing the success of China's conservation efforts.