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Zoo Officials Prepare For Twins' Birth

'Swapping' Technique To Be Used For Raising Baby Pandas

POSTED: 6:15 pm PDT August 12, 2003

The team at San Diego Zoo is awaiting the birth of baby pandas. And, while it is exciting news, the task ahead, once the cubs arrive, can be rather daunting.

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Zoo officials do not know exactly what is going to happen after the twins are born. They do know panda mothers usually reject one of her twins. So, the team will try a technique called "swapping" -- one baby is replaced with the other while the mother is not looking.

Dr. Mark Edwards, a Zoological Society nutritionist, said, "So what they're able to do is give the babies time with mom and time in the nursery so that both babies benefit from both environments."

The zoo nursery looks similar to a human's nursery. Dozens of other babies, from cats to cubs, have been hand raised there. The staff does its best to follow a mother's routine.

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The zoo officials track how many times the baby is fed, the position that the baby is fed and how many times it is stimulated to urinate and defecate. It is a lot of work raising twins, 10News reported.

"If you think about it though, she said they have to hold them constantly for two weeks. It's hard for the mother to hold two and do everything she has to do and be able to eat too," said one zoo visitor.

No matter what the appeal, everyone is hoping for the best.

"It's nature, isn't it? You have to just take that chance in nature, it could that happen anyway," said another zoo visitor.

Edwards is also credited for inventing the baby panda formula used to hand nurse pandas. It is a formula that is being shared with all the panda teams, from China to Washington, D.C., to Mexico.

The exact date of birth is still unknown but officials expect the babies to come sometime in August.


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