A giant panda has given birth to a pair of healthy twins, the third time that twin cubs have been born in captivity this year in southwest China's Sichuan Province, it was reported on Sunday.

The twins were born Saturday morning at the Wolong Giant Panda Protection Research Center, the Xinhua news agency reported.

At 11 years, the mother is at a relatively advanced age, and one of the twins had to be taken away for bottle-feeding by the center's staff, as giant pandas can typically only nurse one cub at a time, Xinhua said.

China currently has 13 pregnant pandas in captivity, and more than half of them are expecting twins, Xinhua said recently.

That is far better than in the wild, where only one panda is on record as having given birth to twins.

Captive pandas are more likely to have twins as they are often inseminated with the sperm of two or more male pandas, according to previous reports.

The giant panda is one of the world's endangered species, partly because of reproductive problems stemming from a lack of interest in sex.

(China Daily 08/26/2001)