Panda boom for Chengdu with ninth pair of twins in two months

A female panda named Yaxing gave birth to twins on Friday in southwest China's Sichuan Province, the ninth pair born at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in two months.

A male cub weighing 179 grams was born at 12:30 a.m. and a female cub, weighing 89.4 grams, was born at 9:50 a.m., said panda expert Wu Kongju at the Chengdu base Saturday.

Yaxing -- who will be 14 in two weeks -- and her cubs are all healthy, said Wu.

Having given birth to twins in 2014, Yaxing appeared to be at more ease in handling her new-born cubs than first-time mother pandas. She managed to hold two cubs after they were born.

The newborns came hot on the heels of this year's eighth twin cubs, also born at the base, on Tuesday.

The base celebrated the births of this year's first panda twins on June 20, when Yali delivered two female cubs.

Source : XINHUA