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Panda cubs take photos with their keepers at the Shenshuping base of the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in the city of Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province on Jan. 17, 2020. (Xinhua/Tang Wenhao)

Twenty giant panda cubs posed for a Chinese New Year greeting Friday morning at a breeding base in the city of Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The 20 panda cubs were all born in the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in 2019.

In a festively decorated area of the Shenshuping breeding base, the cubs, each held by their own keeper, posed in front of cameras to send to the world their greetings for the Chinese Lunar New Year. 

In 2019, a total of 32 panda cubs, 17 male and 15 female, were born and survived in the breeding base, bringing the total number of captive pandas to 312.

According to Li Feng, a panda keeper of the breeding base, the oldest panda cubs were a pair of twins born on May 29, while the youngest was around four months old. The weight of the heaviest born on June 20 is 16 kg.

As the world's largest international scientific research and cooperation platform for giant pandas, the research center has established giant panda cooperation with 16 zoos from 14 countries and regions.

The number of captive giant pandas in the world has reached 600.  

 

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn

Editor: Lan Suying