One of the giant pandas on loan from China to the Netherlands has given birth to a young in a Dutch animal park, a first for the country, Ouedhands zoo in Rhenen announced on Saturday. The animal, whose sex is not yet known, was born on May 1 "after a long period of uncertainty" following the mating of two giant pandas in January, officials of the structure announced.
Fantastic news from Ouwehands Zoo!
Giant panda Wu Wen gave birth to a baby🐼 on 1 May! With care and support from state leaders of both sides, the pandas arrived in the Netherlands in 2017.
Fruit of friendship between 🇨🇳 & 🇳🇱.
A sign of hope.
Let's celebrate the new life! pic.twitter.com/Rop1gKRb4u
"This little one was born and was conceived naturally thanks to the patience and expertise" of the zoo team, rejoiced its owner Marcel Boekhoorn. The parents, the female Wu Wen and the male Xing Ya, were loaned in 2017 for a period of 15 years by China to the Netherlands, where there had been no pair of this mammal for three decades.
A still "vulnerable" species
The newborn, who "is doing well," can stay in the Netherlands for four years before being sent to China, said the zoo. The baby's gender will only be known in a few months when he leaves the maternity unit, when he can be named, the park said.
Since 2016, giant pandas are no longer “in danger” of extinction on the red list of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However, the species remains “vulnerable”. About 500 captive pandas and 2,000 in the wild live in China.
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- Animals
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- Birth
- Netherlands
- China
- Panda