Story By: Kathryn Quinn, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
The father of Berlin’s newborn panda twins – and the partner of ‘loud sex’ loving Meng Meng – has been snapped while having a CT scan for his health check-up.
Jiao Qing, 9, fathered the twins who were born at the end of August at Berlin zoo in the German capital together with mum Meng Meng – who reportedly enjoys loud sex.
Jiao Qing was transported from his enclosure and taken by road in a transport box to the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in the capital for a CT scan, for which he was sedated.
The panda which weighs in at 110 kilogrammes (242 lbs) was taken for the scan to check the condition of his kidneys, which were found to be different sizes in an ultrasound scan earlier this year.
Zoo vet Dr Andreas Ochs said: “Our suspicions were confirmed. He has two kidneys but one of them is much smaller than the other. To protect the panda from any possible health risks we decided to not give any contrast fluid when carrying out the scan. This meant we could not completely evaluate how functional the second kidney is, nevertheless we are happy with the results.”
Further tests will now be carried out by collecting the panda’s urine samples.
The results will then be discussed at the Conference for Giant Panda Conservation and Breeding and Annual Conference of the Chinese Committee of Giant Panda Breeding Techniques in Chengdu and analysed by panda experts Professor Thomas Hildebrandt and Dr Andreas Ochs.
The panda twins will not have noticed their father was missing as panda fathers are not involved in rearing the young.
The two twins, who have not yet been named, were blind and hairless when they were born weighing in at 186 and 136 grams, and need constant attention from their mother.
The panda twins now weigh around 4 kilogrammes each and enjoy cuddles with their mum Meng Meng and according to the zoo are developing properly.
In the latest footage released by the zoo the panda twins have grown considerably and can be seen cuddling with their mum and having a good look around their surroundings. At now over three months old the pandas now have their black and white fur and weigh in at almost four kilos each.
According to the last census of the worldwide population, around 1,864 adult pandas are believed to be living in their natural habitat. Therefore, the panda is classified as endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Berlin Zoo pays an annual rental fee for the rare pandas and all the money goes towards their conservation as well as breeding programmes.
The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
