Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Watch giant panda triplets meet their mother for the first time

A zoo in China decided the triplets were strong enough to meet their mother after their birth back in July

Kiran Moodley
Wednesday 10 December 2014 11:52 EST
Comments
Giant panda triplets meet their mother for first time.
Giant panda triplets meet their mother for first time. (Associated Press)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The world's only known surviving giant panda triplets met their mother for the first time on Tuesday at China's Chimelong Safari Park.

Pandas are notorious for their low reproductive rates so when the triplets were born on 29 July many thought it was both a miracle and near impossible that they would survive.

The cubs were separated from their mother because in previous cases of panda triplets, at least one of the babies died due to their mother's carelessness or malnutrition.

Not that such bad parenting was on display in the video released by the park in Guangzhou, where the mother, Juxiao, can be seen cradling two of her cubs affectionately. She left the third baby alone as it was sleeping.

Keepers said the baby pandas each weigh around eight kilograms and are now strong enough to be in an enclosure with their mother.

"We bring the cubs closer to their mother with the main purpose of training the panda mother to bond with its babies," said Dong Guixin, General Manager of Chimelong Safari Park.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in