Panda baby boom boosts Sichuan: 29-07-2008
As China recovers from the Sichuan earthquake and prepares itself for the beginning of the Beijing Olympic Games, a mini baby boom has taken place.
But this baby boom is not of the human variety, but the endangered giant panda.
Following the news of the first birth earlier this month, four cubs have been born to three mothers within 14 hours.
Eight-year-olds Chenggong (Success) and Zhutzhu (Chinese) each delivered one cub each, while nine-year-old Qiyuan (Magic Luck) gave birth to two female cubs over the weekend.
The panda breeding programme was expected to suffer in the wake of the earthquake but with five births already, it looks likely that the country is on its way to matching last year's record of 12 births.
The panda breeding programme was established 40 years ago and there are currently 71 pandas living at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Centre, where travellers can hope to see the iconic bears.
There are fewer than 1,600 wild pandas in China and most can be found in the Sichuan province as well as Shaanxi and Gansu.