On Aug. 6 2007, after a gestational term of 142 days, the giant panda Jin Zhu gave birth to a pair of female twin cubs at the Bifengxia Base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in the Ya'an City of Sichuan Province. But Jinzhu suffered serious haemorrhaging and is currently in a critical condition.In December 2000, Jinzhu was sent to Japan to mate with a female panda. When the pandas showed complete disinterest, experts decided to turn to artificial insemination, leading to the discovery that Jinzhu had no penis.
Jinzhu was sent back to China in December 2002. Some experts concluded that the panda was hermaphroditic while others said its sexual organs were underdeveloped. But in 2004 Jin Zhu rutted for the first time.
It wasn't until 2005 that scientists carried out an endoscopic examination and found that Jinzhu's ovaries were positioned in the wrong place. After a two-hour operation, the panda became a "normal girl".
In March this year, Jin Zhu rutted again and was left to be impreganted by the male giant panda Yuan Yuan from Beijing Zoo after finishing the mating for four times.
This is the first time for Jin Zhu to give birth and also the first birth to the Bifengxia Base since it was founded on Dec. 28, 2003.
Scroll down for more pictures.
