21 Baby Pandas

From the Chicago Tribune

BEIJING, CHINA -- A record 21 surviving baby pandas were born in China's zoos and breeding centers in 2005, state media reported Monday.

Sixteen were born at Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan, the rare animal's biggest natural habitat, the China Daily newspaper said. The others were born in research centers in the Sichuan provincial capital, Chengdu, in the northwestern Chinese province of Shaanxi and at the Beijing Zoo.

China has 183 pandas in captivity, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. It said 24 others live in nine zoos in five other countries.

(Photo from AFP via InkyCircus)