Bifengxia Panda Base has announced its latest panda births for this year. Guo Guo gave birth to twin girls on Sunday, 27 September 2009. The cubs, weighing 168.8g and 146.1g, were born at 5:35 p.m. and 11:12 p.m. – yes, a difference of almost six hours.

If her name looks familiar, Guo Guo was the first to give birth after the May 12 earthquake in 2008 – on 6 July 2008 to a pair of twins since named Ping Ping and An An (which together, Ping An, means “safety”).

I have been posting panda birth updates over on Facebook, and now here is what may be the full list of births for 2009. I’m hoping this is NOT the full list, as there have not been much news from Chengdu. Hopefully, Chengdu will make a full announcement of their new cubs soon.

27 May
Ling Hui
Chiangmai Zoo, Thailand
Single cub, female, 235g
Name: Lin Bing

7 July
Hua Mei
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Single cub, female, 200g, 12:53 p.m.

7 July
Gong Zhu
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Single cub, male, 200g, 1:08 p.m.

15 July
Bai Xue
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Single cub, male, 150g

16 July
Xi Mei
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Single cub, male, 200g, 11:19 a.m.

19 July
Li Li
Chengdu Panda Centre, China
Twins, both females, 122g and 100g

22 July (solar eclipse!)
Na Na
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Twins, both boys, 96.2g and 130g, 4:53 a.m. and 5:08 a.m.

23 July
You You
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Single cub (from frozen sperm – a first), weight undetermined, male, 7:41 a.m.

24 July
Hai Zhi
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Single cub, weight undetermined, male, 5:51 p.m.

5 August
Bai Yun
San Diego Zoo, USA
Single cub, male, weight undetermined, 4:58 a.m. PST

7 August
Tien Tien
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Twins, weight undetermined, male, 11:27 a.m., and female, 11:37 a.m.

15 August
ZhiZhu
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Single cub, male, 148.6g

19 August
Lousheng
Shaanxi Rare Wild Animals Rescue and Breeding Research Centre, NW China
Twins – male, 162g, 8:40 a.m., and female, 131g, 8:58 a.m.

20 August
Le Sheng
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Single cub, female, 213.8g, 5:03 a.m.

23 August
Yalaoda
Chengdu Research Base, China
Single cub, female, weight unknown

26 August
Ying Ying
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Single cub, female, 158.5g, 3:34 a.m.

4 September
Zhu Zhu
Shaanxi Rare Wild Animals Rescue and Breeding Research Centre, NW China
Single cub, sex undetermined, 206g, 7:12 a.m.

12 September
Ye Ye
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Single cub, male, 161g

27 September
Guo Guo
Bifengxia Panda Base, China
Twins, female, 168.8g and 146.1g, 5:35 p.m. and 11:12 p.m.

Three years ago, China presented a gift of a pair of giant pandas to Taiwan but it was turned down. Apparently, one of the reasons was because of the names chosen for the pair, Tuan Tuan (male) and Yuan Yuan (female), which were derived from “tuan yuan”, the Chinese term for reunification.

Now, three years later, the pair has finally been flown to Taiwan to their new home in the Taipei City Zoo. The change of heart from Taiwan came after the May 12 earthquake, a rare positive outcome of the devastation.

Tuan Tuan, the male of the pair, is a very special panda. He is the first-born of Hua Mei, the American-born giant panda who was returned to China in 2004. He was originally named Hua Ling, a combination of the first characters of his parents’ names (mother – Hua Mei and father – Ling Ling). His younger twin brother is named Mei Ling, taken from the second characters of the two names.

I saw Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan when I was in Bifengxia this past August. However, the first time I saw them, I didn’t know who they were but found it unusual that there were two pandas living together. It was only when the keeper said the two pandas had been together since they were very young that I put two and two together and realised they were the two pandas destined for Taiwan.

Although I saw them many times during my time there, I only took one picture, and that was through the glass window into their room, and my first glimpse of them before I knew who they were.

Tuan Tuan’s Parents

Mother – Hua Mei

Father – Ling Ling

CNN News Coverage
Article
Video

One of the worries coming out of the May 12 earthquake was the possibility that panda births would be down this year. But to many people’s surprise, this has not been the case. In fact, since July 2008, there have been 14 cubbies born in Bifengxia!

Guo Guo – twins on 6 July
Ying Ying – single cub on 13 July
Long Xin – twins on 21 July
Bai Xue – twins on 26 July
Cao Cao – twins on 6 August
Fei Fei – single cub on 8 August
Zhang Ka – single cub on 26 August
Zhu Yun – twins on 3 September
Ye Ye – single cub on 14 September

Probably the most special birth is Fei Fei’s cub born on the first day of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Video: Panda Cubs Rescued After Quake

Shot on a handphone / cell / mobile camera!!