Japan-born panda delivers cub in China

Meihin, a Japan-born panda, has delivered her first cub in southwest China.
The female cub, born yesterday at Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center, weighs 135 grams and is reported to be healthy.
Meihin was born in Wakayama, Japan in 2008 and returned to China with her twin brother, Eihin, in 2013, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Their mother, Rauhin, born in 2000 in Wakayama, was the first Japan-born panda to deliver a cub.
China has collaborative panda-breeding programmes with Japan, the United States and European countries.
The programmes intend to increase global understanding of the endangered species.

Cubs born to pandas "on loan" from China must be returned to China after they reach sexual maturity or when the cooperative agreement ends.

Wild pandas, an endangered species, have long faced survival challenges such as attacks by other animals and man-made destruction of habitat.
A total of over 1,800 giant pandas live in the wild in China. The country has 67 panda sanctuaries, covering 53.8 per cent of their habitat and 66.8 per cent of the wild population.