'Olympics panda' born in China

Chengdu (China), July 29 (IANS) Veterinarians in southwest China's Sichuan province said a 20-year-old panda gave birth to the panda research centre's first cub of the year on the first day of the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The male cub was born Saturday to female panda Li Li, already a mother of four, at 11:20 p.m. in the Chengdu Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre, reports Xinhua.

Li Li became pregnant after naturally mating with male panda Yong Yong in April. Ahead of the delivery on Saturday night, she ate very little for three days and endured two hours of labour.

The newborn cub weighed 162 grams at birth, and both the mother and the cub were in healthy conditions, according to staff members.

Dubbed the hometown of giant pandas, Sichuan has two panda bases, one in Chengdu and the other in Wolong. The Wolong centre welcomed China's first panda cubs this year, a pair of twins, July 11.