Female panda born in Sichuan

A female panda cub was born in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan province in the wee hours of Aug 25.

"This is the third panda birth this month, after a female cub was born on August 12 and a male cub on August 19," said base chief Zhang Zhihe.

Yuan Yuan, the docile mother panda, was born on Aug 1, 2004.

She has given birth to four cubs previously, all of whom are alive, Zhang said.

She fell in love and mated with her partner Yong Yong in spring. On August 22, she became irritable and was walking around a lot.

After nearly four hours of labor, she gave birth at 5:10 am on Aug 25 to a female cub weighing 137 grams, Zhang said.

Both the mother and cub are under the intensive care of base keepers around the clock, he added.

Set up in 1987, this base has solved the three problems pertaining to panda breeding–the difficulty for pandas to become in heat, the difficulty for them to become pregnant, and the difficulty for them to look after their cubs.

The base is home to 112 pandas.