Twelve pairs of panda twins were born in captivity in China this year, a record high since the country started artificially breeding the animals over 40 years ago, a breeding expert said on Monday.
The 12 pairs accounted for 63 percent of the 19 births which realized 31 pandas this year. The figure was about nine percent higher than the ratio last year, according to Zhang Zhihe, head of China Giant Panda Breeding Technology Commission.
Last year, 33 pandas were born, including 11 pairs of twins.
Speaking on the final day of the commission's two-day annual meeting in Chengdu, capital of the southwestern Sichuan Province, Zhang attributed the high birth rate of twins to a maturation of artificial breeding techniques that China first started to explore in 1963. He said the advancements had helped to greatly increase the number of pandas raised in captivity.
Chinese experts have been trying to help giant pandas in captivity mate naturally since the start of the program. However, the bears are very particular in choosing a mate.
As a result, round-the-clock monitoring has been launched to determine the females' ovulation period as at that time they display very weak physiological characteristics, Zhang said.
In many cases, a female is often inseminated with sperm from at least two males if she refuses matchmaking help. The breeders also combine the two methods to effectively improve the pregnancy rate. Because of this, the possibility of twin births or even triplets is greater.
Zhang called for more efforts and technological breakthroughs in improving the accuracy of breeding timing and the efficiency of mating methods in raising the twin-birth ratio.
He said artificial breeding was a fundamental step in expanding the population of the endangered mammal. Pandas born in captivity are destined to be released in nature to join their wild counterparts if they are able to survive the environment.
China's hope to raise the animal's population by releasing captive-bred bears back into the wild suffered a major setback earlier this year when the artificially-bred Xiang Xiang was found dead in a remote part of Wolong.
The five-year-old male was released into the wild in April last year.
Chinese experts are now working on three new plans to release captive-bred females into the wild because they are accepted more easily by wild pandas than males.
China now has 239 giant pandas in captivity, including 128 in the China Giant Panda Research Center in Wolong, a nature reserve in Sichuan. It also has 67 at a research and breeding base in Chengdu. Around 1,590 bears are thought to be living in China's wilderness.
In 1994, the government launched long-term cooperation on giant panda breeding with Japan, the United States and Spain. Since then,25 pandas have been leased to the countries.
According to the cooperation agreement, cubs born overseas to pandas on loan remain China's property and should be returned after they become sexually mature or when the agreement expires.
Source:Xinhua
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