Panda gives birth to first pigeon pair of the year

A pigeon pair of pandas were born on Tuesday in Chengdu. CHEN CHENG/CHINA DAILY

CHENGDU－A female panda called Chengda gave birth on Tuesday to the first pigeon pair this year in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.

The female cub weighed 128.2 grams and was born at 10:57 pm, while the male cub followed at 11:35 pm, weighing 160.2 grams, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding announced.

According to workers at the base, Chengda had been showing signs of pregnancy since June 5, such as a loss of appetite. On Tuesday, she was restless and her waters broke in the afternoon, they said, adding that the cubs are in good health and Chengda is able to feed them.

Pandas are an endangered species due to extremely low reproductive rates in the wild. In captivity, they often give birth to twins and sometimes even triplets.