CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- After the birth of the twin giant panda babies, Zhang Naicheng became a "maternity matron" and is the happiest and busiest person in Chongqing Zoo.

At 6:00 a.m. when most people are still sleeping, Zhang Naicheng, the curator of the Panda Pavilion of Chongqing Zoo, goes into the kitchen and begin to get busy, cooking breakfast for the giant panda in the zoo.

During his thirty years of working in the zoo, Zhang Naicheng often lived in the zoo. In recent two months, he was too busy to go home because of another happy event in the giant panda family.

On July 22, 2022, the giant panda "Ershun" gave birth to twin brothers. The elder brother's birth weight was 132g and the younger brother's birth weight was 91g.

As the milk dad who brought “Ershun” up from childhood to adulthood, Zhang Naicheng took the initiative to become the "maternity matron". At the beginning of her postpartum period, “Ershun” was weak and motherly, unwilling to leave the delivery room or eat, and kept watch over her cubs. Zhang Naicheng and several colleagues took turns to take care of their cubs in the delivery room and nursery 24 hours a day.

Giant pandas have a habit in the wild. After giving birth to twins, in order to ensure the survival rate of the cubs, they often choose the strong cub to feed and give up the weak one.

Chongqing Zoo has long had a plan to rear the giant panda cubs by artificial assistance. One is brought by the Panda mother and the other is artificially raised in the incubator. The two are exchanged in turn so that the cubs can eat breast milk.

After more than a month of careful rearing, the two cubs are now growing well, with the elder brother weighing 2490g and the younger brother weighing 2130g.

"Ershun" passed the "confinement period" smoothly, and became fond of going out, eating bamboo in his own farmhouse and basking in the sun.

Seeing "Ershun" eating a lot in the sun, Zhang Naicheng's eyes were full of love, just like looking at his own children.

From 1992 to 2022, from the age of 18 to 48, Zhang Naicheng raised more than 30 giant pandas and participated in the breeding and rearing of about 20 young giant pandas.

For Zhang Naicheng, taking care of giant pandas is not only his job, but also an important part of his life. (Translated by Xu Hong, Fathom Language Limited)