Carefully
cradling her newborn cub in her mouth, panda Hao Hao seems to be settling into
motherhood with ease.
Little
does she know how hard her keepers fought for her to get to this point – and
the odds for survival that are still stacked against her tiny boy.
Her
baby was born in a Belgian zoo today, a rare event for an endangered species
that numbers fewer than 2,000 worldwide.
The
pink, blind, hairless cub weighed just 171 grams and emerged as 'a little pink
sausage' according to zoological director Tim Bouts
NATURE OF HUMAN NATURE
A
well earned rest! Female giant panda Hao Hao slumps back in her enclosure after
giving birth to a male cub at Paira Daiza zoo in Belgium
Proud
mum: After taking a taking a minute to regain her strength, Hao Hao holds her
newborn baby in her mouth
The
zoo cooperated with experts from the panda's native China to treat the mother
by artificial insemination
Zookeepers
check on the newborn panda in an incubator at the Paira Daiza zoo
The
zoo, which has hosted the pair since 2014 under an arrangement with the Chinese
authorities, cooperated with experts from the animals' native China to treat
the mother by artificial insemination.
World
nature organisation WWF says a survey in 2014 found only 1,864 giant pandas
living in the wild, almost double the numbers in the late 1970s and 17 per cent
up in a decade.
As
part of efforts to save the species, which has been hit hard by human
encroachment on the highlands where they survive almost entirely on a diet of
bamboo, more than 300 pandas now live in zoos, mostly in China.
They
notoriously struggle to reproduce in captivity, however – though artificial
breeding techniques and better knowledge of their needs has seen an increase in
births in recent years.
Pairi
Daiza said Belgium had become the third country in Europe to see the successful
reproduction of pandas after Austria and Spain. The last successful birth in Europe
was at Madrid three years ago.
Phew!
Hao Hao has a well-earned rest after giving birth. Pandas notoriously struggle
to reproduce in captivity
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