If you've been following this site for a while you may remember that I was quite concerned that the breeding centre at Chengdu had only reported 4 cubs this year. (A pair of twins and 2 separate cubs).

Researchers at Chengdu have now reported that the mothers there are exhausted and that is why there were so few cubs this year.

There was a total of 18 panda cubs born in 2008. I hope that the pandas have taken a well deserved year off and will be back next year with a greater number of cubs.