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August 7, 2016

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Home » Sunday » City Scene

Shanghai’s first baby panda excites public

THE arrival of a new giant panda cub is always cause for rejoicing in China, and that was certainly the case when the Shanghai Wildlife Park welcomed the city’s first giant panda birth last month.

Since she was born on July 9, the black-and-white fluff ball has been enjoying the best in maternal care. She has a healthy appetite and is gaining weight. Her squeals suggest a happy cub.

“We didn’t announce the good news until about a month after the cub was born because there is always a lot of uncertainty about the survival of giant panda cubs,” said Min Yingguo, director of the Animal Management Department of the park.

The birth is the first step in establishing a giant panda preserve in Shanghai, after the State Forestry Administration of China designated Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou for the honors.

In Shanghai, the preserve is located in the wildlife park. Two giant pandas were transported to Shanghai from the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Guo Guo, the mother of the new cub, was one of the pair.

She is no stranger to reproduction. Guo Guo will be 20 next month — the equivalent of 60 years old in humans ­— and she has previously mothered eight cubs, including two pairs of twins.

She was pregnant when she arrived in Shanghai. The identity of the father hasn’t been disclosed.

Guo Guo is considered genetically gifted. Her mother Jia Jia is 38 years old, now living in Ocean Park Hong Kong as the world’s oldest captive giant panda.

Guo Guo is very experienced in the maternal arts. She gave birth for the first time in 2005, to a pair of twins. In 2008, she was pregnant again when a massive earthquake struck Sichuan. She was transferred to a safe area, where she gave birth two months later to another pair of twins.

In Shanghai, signs of delivery appeared a week before Guo Guo gave birth, according to park officials. A monitoring room was set up outside her lair, and a camera recorded all the prenatal behavior.

On the night of July 3, Guo Guo started to lick her female body parts and rub her breasts. She began pacing in her den. Her water broke at 11:41am on July 9, and the cub was born a minute later, letting out a loud cry indicating robust health.

“Usually it takes 20 minutes to an hour to deliver a panda cub,” said Min, “but this time it was very smooth, probably because Guo Guo is so experienced. I went to check on her after her water broke, but the cub had already emerged, so I quietly left so as not to disturb mother or cub.”

It took awhile for park attendants to determine the sex of the new cub because Guo Guo was so protective of her offspring, cradling the cub in her front paws all the time.

“For the first couple of weeks, Guo Guo became very cautious of humans,” said Min. “When we tried to feed her, she always ate with one paw while cradling the cub tightly in the other. She always kept a wary eye on us. We managed to wrest the cub from her for 10 minutes to give the youngster a quick physical checkup.”

On July 10, the cub’s weight was recorded at 151 grams and her height at 14.3 centimeters. Park officials said she was a relatively big cub for a giant panda.

At the end of July, a second physical examination showed the cub’s weight at 893.4 grams and her height at 29 centimeters.

The exam process is not easy. Handlers have to ensure that the cub doesn’t pick up any human scent, which could cause the mother to abandon it.

To ensure a smooth delivery, a team of 17 experts, including three from the Wolong Center in Sichuan, was formed.

After the delivery, the park imported fresh bamboo shoots from Zhejiang Province to give extra nutrition to Guo Guo. Raisers peeled the bamboo shoots and removed all the tough parts.

Five people took turns sitting in front of monitors around the clock to watch the lair. The temperature of the den was also strictly controlled to between 23 and 26 degrees Celsius. It was adjusted according to how tightly Guo Guo held her cub to avoid cold or overheating.

“We also judged the cub’s condition from her squeal,” said Min. “A healthy squeal meant she was getting enough mother’s milk.”

Guo Guo and her cub will be introduced to the public next month, but numbers of visitors will be limited and reservations will be required.

And now for the name. The wildlife park is collecting suggestions from the public. Netizens have come up with many online recommendations, including Shenhua, which means “flower of Shanghai” and is also the name of the local soccer team.

Other suggestions include Huxiaopang, or “little chubby’ in Shanghai dialect; Youdunzi, or “deep-fried radish cake”; and Seyi, or “comfortable” in Shanghai dialect. The park will announce the chosen name later.




 

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