Fourteen were placed on a small bed to lie to show them off to an
adoring public at the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda
Breeding today.
In all 20 Panda cubs were born this year with 17
surviving.
The Chengdu Panda Base was founded in 1987 with six giant pandas
rescued from the wild.
Today, 83 of the captive species are homed there.
Pandas, regarded as a genetic freak of nature by many in the
conservation world, are revered in China and are often used as
pawns of diplomacy by the country’s rulers.
Two are currently at Edinburgh Zoo where Tian Tian is thought to be
pregnant.
If so, these photographs are sure to be a mere taste of the picture
frenzy to come.
