First giant panda cub of 2025 born at panda base in SW China's Sichuan

The year's first giant panda cub in captivity born at the Shenshuping Base in southwest China's Sichuan Province stays with its mother Linlang, June 25, 2025. (Photo provided to China News Service)

(ECNS) -- The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) on Wednesday said the Shenshuping Base in southwest China's Sichuan Province had welcomed this year's first giant panda cub in captivity.

The cub was delivered at 11:50 p.m. on Saturday to Linglang, a first-time mother, following a successful natural mating with male panda Yaxing in early March.

Both the mother Linlang and the cub are under good care and in good health, said the Shenshuping Base.

The CCRCGP has overcome key challenges in captive breeding since the 1980s, steadily growing the population from just six pandas in 1983 to over 380 today.

(By Zhang Dongfang)