Australia Network News

Chinese zoo unveils 'miracle' panda triplets

'Miracle' panda triplets

Guangzhou's Chimelong Safari Park hails the birth as a "miracle".


A Chinese zoo has unveiled newborn panda triplets which are considered to be the world's first known surviving trio.

The births are being hailed as a "miracle" given the animal's famously low reproductive rate.

The mother panda, named Juxiao, which means "chrysanthemum smile", delivered the triplets at Guangzhou's Chimelong Safari Park in the early hours of July 29.

Her cubs had to be put into incubators because she was too exhausted to take care of them after labour and had to regain her strength.

The zoo announced the triplets had been brought back to their mother for nursing and were being attended to by a round-the-clock team of feeders.

"They were said to be the only panda triplets that have ever survived," the zoo said in a statement.

An official from Sichuan Wolong National Natural Reserve, considered the foremost authority on pandas, said the trio were too young to be officially recognised as "surviving" but that they were the only known panda triplets alive.

"We can only say they are surviving once they reach six months. For now they are indeed the only surviving triplets," said an official from the centre who only gave her name as Ms Zhao.

"The triplets can be described as a new wonder of the world," the zoo said, describing mortality rates among newborn pandas as "extremely high".

Pictures taken earlier this month of the triplets showed the pink-coloured cubs inside an incubator with their eyes closed and bodies sparsely covered with white fur.


The gender of the cubs was not disclosed and they would be given their names at a later date.


China has about 1,600 pandas living in the wild. Their normal breeding season is mid-April to May.


More Stories