Another panda cub has been born in a research center in southwest China, bringing the number of newborn, artificially-bred pandas to 13 so far this year.

 

"Ya Ya," the 16-year-old mother at the Chengdu Giant Panda Reproduction and Research Center in Sichuan Province, gave birth to a 177 gram female cub at 5:19 p.m. on Saturday, Lan Jingchao, an official with the center, said on Monday.

 

"Both of them are safe and sound," he said.

 

The delivery is also the first at the center to be the result of full artificial insemination. "Ya Ya" did not mate naturally but was instead artificially inseminated three times with panda "Ke Bi's" sperm, the official said.

 

"Ya Ya," described by Lan as "super hero mother", has given birth to 11 cubs in seven deliveries in the past few years, one of which was stillborn, he said.

 

China is witnessing a baby boom among its giant panda population. More than 30 female pandas across the country have mated this year and nine of them have given birth to 13 cubs, including four sets of twins.

 

The giant panda, found only in China, is one of the world's most endangered species.

 

Experts had previously estimated that there were 1,590 giant pandas living in the wild in China, but Chinese and British scientists announced in June that there could be as many as 3,000 after a survey used a new method to profile DNA from giant panda feces.

 

The State Forestry Administration said there are over 180 giant pandas living in captivity on the Chinese mainland.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2006)