Newborn Panda Twins Are Switched Out With Each Other to Make Their Mother Believe There’s Only One

When a panda gives birth to more than one cub in the wild, she will usually only attend to one and leave the remaining cubs to perish. So when a giant panda gave birth to twins at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, a vigilant team took extraordinary steps to make the new mother think that there was only one cub born. Using food as a distraction, the keepers gently took the cub who was currently in her arms and switched that cub out for the other. This process was repeated ten times per day in order to ensure the survival of both.

When having multiple cubs, pandas will usually only care for one baby and abandon the other, but switching them around might be the key for both twins’ survival.