Captive female panda takes walk on the wild side to find her mate

The first panda cub produced by mating a female raised in captivity with a wild male was born in Sichuan province in the early hours of Monday.

The cub weighed 216 grams, much heavier than the average 150 grams for a newborn, according to Zhang Hemin, deputy executive director of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda at the Wolong National Nature Reserve.

Cao Cao, the mother, is 16 years old (equivalent to 48 in human years) and considered old for giving birth, he said.