13 Pandas Expected to Give Birth

13 Pandas Expected to Give Birth

---

Thirteen pandas being raised in southwest China's Sichuan Province are likely to have babies this fall, experts at Giant Panda Breeding Technology Committee of China (GPBTCC) said Saturday.

Zhang Anju, director of the GPBTCC, said, "According to our experience, 50 percent of them could be twins, and so there may be 13 to 20 new members of the panda family soon."

"This is wonderful news, as the pandas are an endangered species," said the famed expert excitedly.

At the GPBTCC breeding base in this capital of Sichuan, nine pregnant pandas have been moved into a newly-built, air- conditioned delivery room. Meanwhile, four pregnant pandas at another breeding base, in Sichuan's Wolong Nature Reserve, a panda habitat, are also expected to give birth this fall.

Li Guanghan, an expert at the Chengdu base, said that the coming baby boom is good news for the panda and the scientists as well, indicating China's leading position in artificial fertilization of giant pandas.

Considered a living fossil, the giant panda is one of the most endangered species in the world. There are only about 1,000 giant pandas on the planet, most of whom live in Sichuan.