Beijing - A world record was broken on Tuesday at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Centre when Qing Qing gave birth to her 13th baby, according to state media.
The 19-year-old giant panda was likely to break her own captive breeding record later in the day as doctors believed she may be carrying twins.
Yu Jianqiu, proud director of the centre, said Qing Qing has delivered 13 babies in nine births since she had her first panda cub in 1989. She was mated with two separate captive males to produce her latest offspring.
Another panda raised at the Chengdu centre, Mei Mei, was also nursing new pandas on Tuesday after delivering twins a day earlier at the Shirahama Zoo in Wakayama, Japan.
Mei Mei, who has borne five babies since she was born in 1994, has been on loan to the Japanese zoo since 2000 as part of a giant panda reproduction programme.
Pandas are among the world's most endangered animals. Currently about 1 000 of the black and white bamboo-eating creatures remain in the wild, while a total of 140 are in captive breeding programmes worldwide. - Sapa-AFP