Hong Kong has welcomed two baby pandas which were conceived naturally after Ying Ying gave birth to a pair of twins, a male and female, on Thursday morning, becoming the world’s oldest first-time giant panda mum.
She bore the two panda cubs just one day shy of her 19th birthday, equivalent to 57 human years, with Ocean Park, which is home to her and partner Le Le, describing it as “a true rarity”.
The pair succeeded in mating naturally at Ocean Park in March. The park had kept her pregnancy a secret throughout the duration, only revealing the news almost 24 hours after her delivery.
“As a first-time mother, Ying Ying was understandably nervous throughout the process. She spent much of her time lying on the ground and twisting,” the park said in a statement late on Thursday.
Ying Ying and Le Le, the second pair of pandas given as a gift by Beijing to the city in 2007, failed to conceive despite several rounds of natural mating since 2011 and an artificial insemination procedure in 2023.
The unexpected news was announced by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Thursday night, as he said it was particularly meaningful for the pair to give birth to the twins in the year which marked the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China.
“I want to express my gratitude to the country for gifting giant pandas to Hong Kong, which fully shows its care and support to the city,” Lee said.
“We would also like to thank Ocean Park’s team for taking good care of An An, Jia Jia, Ying Ying and Le Le over the years, as well as the experts from the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda for their continuous support, which enabled Ying Ying and Le Le to give birth to the pair of cubs.”
Ocean Park said Ying Ying started showing pregnancy or pseudopregnancy symptoms including decreased appetite, increased rest time and changes in hormonal levels at the end of July.
It said the pregnancy was not “readily detectable” until Sunday when the park’s veterinary surgeons and experts from the panda centre confirmed it via ultrasound scanning.
This birth is a true rarity
On Wednesday, Ying Ying displayed labour symptoms, such as increased activity and irritability, had her amniotic fluid broken around 10pm. She eventually delivered the twin cubs at 2.05am and 3.27am the next day after more than five hours of labour.
“This birth is a true rarity, especially considering Ying Ying is the oldest giant panda on record to have successfully given birth for the first time,” Ocean Park chairman Paulo Pong Kin-yee said.
“I would like to express my gratitude to the park’s animal care and veterinary team for their tireless dedication to Ying Ying and Le Le.
“Thanks also to the experts from the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda for their long-standing partnership and professional assistance over the years, allowing Ying Ying and Le Le to become parents.”
The female cub, weighing 122 grams (4.3oz), was born first, followed by her brother, at 112 grams.
The park said the cubs were “very fragile” and needed time to stabilise, especially the female, who had a lower body temperature, weaker cries and was taking less food.
It said both cubs were under 24-hour intensive care by animal care and veterinary team, as well as experts from mainland China, and that it would be a few months before the twins could meet the public.
It has been a long and difficult journey to parenthood for Ying Ying and Le Le.
The pair, then aged 14, only successfully mated for the first time in 2020, after repeated failures over the past 10 years. Ying Ying also suffered a miscarriage.
In 2015, Ying Ying and Le Le joined a national programme in Wolong, Sichuan, the biggest panda reserve on the mainland, where the female mated with different pandas and was also artificially inseminated. Le Le’s semen was used to artificially inseminate other pandas.
Ying Ying was confirmed as pregnant, but then miscarried, before several false alarms over the following years.
Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung is currently in Sichuan to settle the arrangements for the arrival of a pair of pandas gifted to the city by Beijing.
The pair were tentatively scheduled to arrive around September 26, a source said.
Beijing announced the gift on July 1, the 27th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty.
The first pair given to Hong Kong, male An An and female Jia Jia, arrived in 1999 and died without reproducing.
