The world's oldest giant panda has become a mum for the first time: 19-year-old Ying Ying has given birth to twins
The world's oldest giant panda has become a mum for the first time.
Despite her advanced age, 19-year-old In In has given birth to twins - a boy and a girl. This event is extremely rare, as Ying Ying is already 57 years old by human standards.
A photo of the babies appeared on Hong Kong Zoo's official Instagram account.
Ying Ying lived a tough 5 hours during the labour which culminated in the birth of two tiny cubs. The girl was born first with a weight of 122 grams and the boy with a weight of 112 grams. The newborn panda cubs remain in intensive care for the time being under 24-hour observation by medics who are working to stabilise their condition. The zoo reports that special attention is required for the girl, who after birth consumes less food, has a lower body temperature and weak cries.
It should be noted that the road to motherhood for Ying Ying was not an easy one. For more than 10 years, experts tried to mate her with a partner named Le Le, but all attempts remained unsuccessful. This is because large pandas have only one fertile period per year, which lasts up to three days. In addition, in their natural habitat, these animals live alone and rarely mate.
Ying Ying has also experienced several miscarriages and her pregnancy, which lasted five months, was difficult.
Zoo workers say that breeding giant pandas in captivity is a very difficult task, but such measures are necessary to preserve this endangered species. Visitors to the zoo will be able to see the newborn panda cubs only in a few months, when their condition stabilises.