World's "First" Surviving Panda Triplets Born in Southern China Zoo

A zoo in southern China is currently home to the world's first known surviving panda triplets that were born July 29.

The official news of the birth of the rare panda triplets from China arrived on the same day as the Edinburgh Zoo announced that panda Tian Tian is pregnant. Born in the early hours at the Guangzhou's Chimelong Safari Park, the triplets have been described as a "miracle".

They were born to mother Juxiao (meaning chrysanthemum  smile), but was too exhausted to take care of her panda cubs soon after birth. However, after regaining her strength she was seen nursing them with the help of a team of feeders who are constantly monitoring the mother and the cubs, according to AFP.

The three unnamed and unsexed panda cubs were kept in incubators after birth and are currently known to be doing good. The entire event of the birth of the panda cubs was captured in a video at the zoo.

The cubs are "the only panda triplets that have ever survived," the zoo said in a statement released Tuesday, but it added that the newborns' mortality rate among pandas is "extremely high".

The video shows how Juxiao sat at the corner while delivering her cubs; she was completely exhausted by the birth of the third cub. Moments after they were born she was seen licking her cubs.

China's leading panda authority, the Sichuan Wolong National Natural Reserve, has said that although the pandas are still too young to call "surviving", they are the first known living panda triplets, reports BBC.

The cubs can be declared surviving once they are six months old. The cubs that were naturally conceived were born after mother Juxiao was paired with 17-year-old father Linlin last September. At birth, the cubs were smaller than the size of a human palm and weighed just 83 grams and 124 grams.

Since 1999, this is the first case of triplets from giant panda.

Giant panda is the rarest member of the bear family and are mainly found in central China. They dwell in coniferous forests and feed mostly on bamboo. They are listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened species. It is estimated that there are just 1,600 pandas left in the wild and over 300 of them thrive in zoos and other breeding centers, mostly in China. Their reproductive age is until 20 years and they give birth during the spring. Female giant pandas give birth between 95 and 160 days after mating.