Everland Successfully Achieves Natural Breeding of World's Rare Panda Species

Baby Panda Born After 1,601 Days Living at Everland

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Yong-jun, Travel Specialist] The world-renowned endangered species, the 'Giant Panda,' has successfully reproduced naturally for the first time in South Korea.

Everland announced on the 22nd that on the 20th, a baby panda was born from the only panda pair in the country, Aibao (female, 7 years old) and Lubao (male, 8 years old).

Aibao gave birth to a healthy female baby panda measuring 16.5 cm in height and weighing 197 g at 9:49 PM on the 20th, just an hour and a half after labor began.

Everland stated, "Both the mother and the baby panda are maintaining good health."

The baby panda, born after Aibao and Lubao had lived at Everland for 1,601 days, is recorded as the first panda born in South Korea.

Aibao and Lubao came to Everland Panda World in March 2016, flying approximately 2,400 km from the panda base in Sichuan Province, China, and have since been loved by over 9.5 million visitors.

At that time, they were only 3 and 4 years old respectively, still young, but they grew healthily into adults at Panda World, gradually raising expectations for pregnancy and birth since last year.

Pandas are known to be animals for which pregnancy and birth are difficult. Their fertile period occurs only once a year, typically lasting just 1 to 3 days around March to April. If mating is successful during this period, the pregnancy lasts about four months, with birth occurring around July to August. This is why most pandas on Earth have birthdays concentrated in this period.

Especially, pandas give birth to very small cubs compared to other bears, with newborns weighing about 1/800 to 1/900 of the adult weight, making early health care particularly important. Moreover, due to their solitary nature, pandas live apart and only meet during the breeding season, making successful mating even less likely.

Everland Zoo regularly swapped the rooms of Aibao and Lubao to help them become familiar with each other's scent and provided nutritious grain-based meals to maintain their physical condition.

Additionally, through regular health checkups including blood and urine tests, Everland scientifically analyzed accumulated hormonal data of the pandas to select the optimal mating day with the highest chance of success, finally achieving natural mating of the panda couple at the end of March this year.

Due to the panda's characteristic of giving birth to very small cubs compared to the mother's weight (122 kg), it was difficult to visually confirm pregnancy until close to delivery.

However, after noticing Aibao's sharply decreased food intake and increased sensitivity, a dedicated team of keepers and veterinarians was formed to continuously observe Aibao's behavior and physical changes.

From early this month, as the due date approached, Aibao was moved from the outdoor enclosure to a specially prepared delivery room for birth and was monitored 24 hours a day, reflecting the many behind-the-scenes efforts to welcome the new life of the baby panda.

Everland has prepared a special residence inside Panda World to ensure the baby panda, currently weighing only 197 g, can grow healthily, and the baby will remain closed to the public for the time being to prioritize its health.

Until the public opening, Everland plans to continuously share updates on the baby panda's growth and condition through official SNS channels such as Everland's official YouTube and blog to communicate with customers.

Everland keeper Kang Cheol-won, in charge of the pandas, said, "I am very happy that Aibao and Lubao, who have lived together for over four years, have become parents," adding, "I hope the public can momentarily forget their tiring daily lives and receive hopeful energy from the news of the baby panda's birth."

Everland plans to hold various customer events and promotions until the end of August to celebrate the birth of the baby panda. Starting today, congratulatory comment and hashtag events will be held on Everland's official SNS channels such as YouTube and Instagram, offering panda 'Mom and Baby Dolls' as souvenirs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.