IT’S enough to bamboozle anyone as 18 rare panda cubs pose for a family snap.
They were among 23 born this year and brought together for the first time.
Fears panda-monium would break out proved unfounded as the youngsters played together on the grass and snuggled up in baskets at the Bifengxia Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda, in China’s Sichuan Province.
A record 26 were born in centres around the country — 16 alone in Bifengxia — but five died. The gathering included one born in the US and another in Malaysia.
Twelve of those bred were twins.
Carer Yuan Bo said: “In the wild, the mother is seldom able to take care of both cubs so she abandons the weaker one. For captive giant pandas, we can place this one in an incubator.
“The babies are taken alternately to their mother’s care.”
Just 1,864 giant pandas are thought to be living in the wild, putting them on the World Conservation Union’s “red list” of endangered species.
A panda weighs an average of 3oz at birth. But females end up tipping the scales at around 220 pounds (100kg) and males 250 pounds (113kg).
Centre boss Dr Zhang Zhihe said: “If we need a species with great influence capable of raising the public’s environment protection awareness, look no further than the giant panda.”
