On the night of June 21, the giant panda “Linglang” gave birth to a cub at the Wolong Shenshuping Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. This is the first captive giant panda cub born at the center this year, marking the official start of the center’s “panda cub season”.
In early March, the female giant panda “Linglang” and the male giant panda “Yaxing” successfully mated naturally. By late May, “Linglang” began showing signs of pregnancy, including decreased appetite and activity levels. At around 3 p.m. on June 21, she began to show signs of labor and gave birth to a cub at 11:50 p.m. Thanks to the meticulous care of the keeper team, both “Linglang” and her cub are in good health.
“This is the first birth for the 7‑year‑old giant panda ‘Linglang’, and although she is a first‑time mother, she has shown excellent maternal instincts – smoothly picking up, nurturing, and licking the cub. To minimize disturbances during this critical period, staff have not yet taken the cub out for a medical examination,” explained Wu Honglin, Deputy Director of the Wolong Shenshuping Base.
Since the 1980s, the center has worked diligently to overcome the “three challenges” of captive giant panda breeding. Its breeding techniques have steadily improved, leading to a growing captive population and an increasingly optimized genetic structure. The captive giant panda population has risen from just 6 in 1983 to over 380 today, making it a self‑sustaining population.
In addition to the Wolong Shenshuping Base, the Ya’an Base has also made thorough preparations to welcome new giant panda cubs this year.