Chinese panda gives birth in Belgium

So it was surprising when, earlier this week, a panda named Hao Hao in captivity in Belgium did give birth, according to the BBC.

The zoo distributed a photograph of the pink, hairless cub being held in its 6-year-old mother’s jaws.

Just look at this squishy little thing. The zoo cooperated with Chinese experts to treat the mother by artificial insemination.

Hao Hao’s Belgian and Chinese carers brought her to a so-called “birthing box” after she showed the first signs she was about to give birth on Tuesday.

He added that the mother and newborn are fine, but the young panda is still in a high-risk period.

She was artificially inseminated in February, but the pregnancy was only confirmed a few weeks ago.

Hao Hao, whose name means “kindly”, could be seen later in the day resting in her open enclosure. It can keep the cub for four years before it would be returned to China if all goes well.

Still, the unnamed cub’s birth, called a “true miracle”, was something to celebrate; he’s only the third panda cub ever born in Europe. Previously, Austria and Spain have been credited with successful reproduction of the species.

World nature organization WWF says a survey in 2014 found only 1,864 giant pandas living in the wild, nearly double the number in the late 1970s and 17 percent up in a decade.

There are only 1,864 giant pandas worldwide, and about 300 live in zoos to protect the species.