36 panda cubs make delightful debut in china, marking historic boom of baby bears

on october 13th, china publicly debuted 36 panda cubs between one and five months old — marking the largest number of successful panda births in captivity in any given year. after decades of trailing numbers, the declining population has finally showed substantial evidence of a promising future. the giant pandas have been moved off the ‘endangered’ list and reclassified as ‘vulnerable.’ this spike in births follows the redesign and construction of the shenshuping breeding center in the wolong national nature reserve, in china — the birthplace of 19 of the 36 panda cubs.

china presents 36 giant panda cubs — a recording number of births in captivity

the wolong panda center, one of the main facilitators in this year’s successful panda breeding program, was rebuilt in a safer location after geological studies confirmed potential dangers of building a new facility on the same land. the larger re-designed facility has two distinct sections, with an area in shengshuping dedicated to breeding and partnering site in huangcaoping that focuses its efforts on the pandas’ reintroduction training. the complex contains laboratories, a hospital, a food processing center, staff facilities, and an expanding nature reserve’s large bamboo forest that will eventually cover 680 acres of the land. the initial report by CCTV, hopefully marks the beginning of a new and prosperous era for the giant panda.

the panda cubs range from five months to one month old. 

the giant panda population has been declining even with decades of breeding programs

the giant panda has officially been reclassified as vulnerable, rather than endangered

so far 42 pandas have been born this year and among them were 15 pairs of twins

roughly 2,060 giant pandas exist today

the wolong panda center was responsible for the birth of 19 of these new panda cubs