San Diego Zoo's Giant Panda Gives Birth

熊貓寶寶落地圣地亞哥

Bai Yun, a 13-year-old giant panda on loan from China, gave birth to the first of twin cubs, but researchers at the San Diego Zoo were doubtful that the second cub would be born healthy with each passing hour.

"The chances of her giving birth to a second live cub are dwindling," said Pat Morris, the zoo's director of veterinary services, at least 24 hours after the initial delivery.

Bai Yun gave birth in a nest of shredded bamboo at 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, said Don Lindburg, head of the zoo's panda team. Bai Yun appeared to have contractions into Wednesday but there were no plans to intervene unless she showed signs of medical distress.

"The longer the birth interval, the less likely that the second fetus will be born alive," Lindburg said. "We are simply letting nature take its course."

Research has shown female pandas who are pregnant with twins deliver the second cub anytime between 12 minutes and 12 hours after giving birth to the first, according to the zoo's Web site. Panda cubs can weigh from 4 to 6 ounces at birth.

Typically, a mother will chose to care for only one cub, officials said.

"It takes a lot of effort and a lot of intensity. That's one of the obvious reasons why twinning is not successful in this species," Morris said.

Bai Yun's newborn was about 4 inches long and covered with white fuzz. It made squawking sounds about every half hour to indicate it wanted to be fed - a positive sign, researchers said.

Normally pandas begin to develop their distinctive black spots after two weeks, and open their eyes after two weeks to four weeks, Morris said.

"We're really pleased that we have one," Lindburg said. "It would have been a really nice treat for the community if someday down the road they could have seen a couple of youngsters playing here. I think it could probably still happen, but we really aren't that hopeful that this will turn out that way now."

Bai Yun gave birth to a cub in 1999 after she was artificially inseminated. Her offspring, Hua Mei, is the first U.S.-born panda to survive into adolescence.

Giant pandas are an endangered species. Fewer than 1,000 exist in the wild, all in China, and about 150 live in captivity, including panda pairs at zoos in Washington, Atlanta, Tennessee, and Mexico City.

(Agencies)

從中國借來的13歲大熊貓“白云”在圣地亞哥動物園順利產下雙胞胎中的第一個寶寶，但是研究人員時刻都在擔心“白云”是否能夠產下健康的第二胎。

在第一胎出生至少24小時后，動物園獸醫主任帕特·莫里斯說：“第二胎存活的幾率在不斷降低。”

動物園熊貓小組的負責人唐·林德伯格說，“白云”是周二下午1點15分在碎竹子搭成的窩中生下第一胎的。她從周三開始出現感染，但是工作人員現在還不打算介入，除非她有健康危險。

林德伯格說：“生產間隔時間越長，第二胎成活的可能性就越小，我們只能聽天由命了。”

據動物園網站的消息說，研究表明如果熊貓懷有雙胞胎，第二胎可能在第一胎出生之后的12分鐘到12個小時中的任何時候出生。熊貓的胎兒出生時大約有4到6盎司重。

工作人員說，熊貓媽媽通常只能撫養一只熊貓幼仔。

“這需要很多體力和精力，這就是為什么熊貓雙胞胎不容易存活的主要原因之一?！蹦锼拐f。

“白云”的第一胎大約有4英寸長，渾身長滿了白色的茸毛。大約每過半個小時它就會發出刺耳的叫聲提醒人們給它喂食。研究者們稱，這是一種積極的信號。

莫里斯說，通常兩周后熊貓開始長出它們特有的黑斑，二到四周后它們開始睜開眼睛。

林德伯格說：“我們真高興終于有一只大熊貓了，如果有一天人們可以看到一對年幼的大熊貓在這里嬉戲，這對于動物園來說真是太好了。我想這還是有可能實現的，盡管事實也許不像我們希望的那樣?！?/p>

“白云” 在1999年接受人工受精后生下了一只幼仔，它就是“華美”，是第一只出生在美國并成長到青春期的大熊貓。

大熊貓是瀕臨滅絕的物種，目前野生的大熊貓不到1000頭，全部生活在中國。另外有大約150只被圈養在動物園里，其中有的生活在華盛頓、亞特蘭大、田納西和墨西哥城。

（中國日報網站譯）

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