The birth of three giant panda cubs has been welcomed in China after the endangered species was threatened further by the earthquake in May. At the Chengdu Panda Breeding and Research Centre in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan there has been a baby boom, with 14 giant panda cubs born since January and more expected before the end of the year.

At the Wolong Nature Reserve, which was near the epicentre of the magnitude 8.0 quake, in which nearly 70,000 people died, five members of staff and one captive panda were killed. The reserve had to move many of its remaining panda population, which caused problems for its captive breeding programme.

The number of wild pandas in China has dwindled to 1,600. Most are in Sichuan and neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. There are about 180 pandas in captivity in China but they are notoriously difficult to breed. Some researchers showed young male pandas video footage of the mating act to try to encourage their natural instincts.

The mother to two of the cubs, who were born at the Chengdu centre in the final week of the Beijing Olympics, is called Chengji, which means achievement, according to the Beijing Morning Post.

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