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Watch giant panda triplets meet their mother for the first time

A zoo in China decided the triplets were strong enough to meet their mother after their birth back in July

Kiran Moodley
Wednesday 10 December 2014 16:52 GMT
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Giant panda triplets meet their mother for first time.
Giant panda triplets meet their mother for first time.

The world's only known surviving giant panda triplets met their mother for the first time on Tuesday at China's Chimelong Safari Park.

Pandas are notorious for their low reproductive rates so when the triplets were born on 29 July many thought it was both a miracle and near impossible that they would survive.

The cubs were separated from their mother because in previous cases of panda triplets, at least one of the babies died due to their mother's carelessness or malnutrition.

Not that such bad parenting was on display in the video released by the park in Guangzhou, where the mother, Juxiao, can be seen cradling two of her cubs affectionately. She left the third baby alone as it was sleeping.

Keepers said the baby pandas each weigh around eight kilograms and are now strong enough to be in an enclosure with their mother.

"We bring the cubs closer to their mother with the main purpose of training the panda mother to bond with its babies," said Dong Guixin, General Manager of Chimelong Safari Park.

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