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First panda of the year is born

(AP)
Updated: 2007-02-26 10:06

BEIJING -- China's first panda cub of the year has survived the crucial first three days of her life, state media reported Monday.

The first panda cub of the new year is born at the China Panda Protection and Research Centre in Wolong, Sichuan Province on February 23. [sina.com.cn]

The female cub weighed just 90.2 grams (3.2 ounces) at birth, but has gained seven grams in the three days, increasing her chances of survival, Xinhua News Agency said.

It said the panda was being cared for by the China Panda Protection and Research Center in Wolong, Sichuan province.

The still nameless female was born to a 13-year-old giant panda named Ji Ni, the oldest panda to deliver a first cub, Xinhua said.

The panda is one of the world's rarest animals, with about 1,590 living in the wild in China, mostly in Sichuan and the southwestern province of Shaanxi.

Giant pandas have a very low fertility rate because they are sexually inactive, so Chinese scientists have been raising pandas through artificial insemination for nearly 50 years.

Thirty-four pandas were born by artificial insemination in 2006 and 30 survived _ both record numbers for the endangered species.