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A staff member at the Sichuan breeding centre draws blood from a panda for testing after several pandas died from the canine distemper virus. Photo: Xinhua

Four giant pandas die as virus strikes Chinese breeding centre

AP

A giant panda has died from a virus that has already killed three other pandas at a rescue centre in northwestern China, state media reported today.

The six-year-old panda, named Feng Feng, succumbed to the canine distemper virus, a contagious and serious disease that has no specific cure and affects a variety of animals, especially dogs.

Symptoms include high fever, discharge from eyes and nose, sudden vomiting and diarrhoea. They are passed on from animal to animal through sneezing or coughing.

Feng Feng died after falling into a coma on January 8, though Xinhua did not specify when the death occurred.

That brings the panda death toll at the Sichuan breeding centre to four since December.

Xinhua said an additional four pandas were diagnosed with canine distemper but recovered.

The centre sent its healthy pandas to other reserves.

About 1,600 giant pandas live in the wild, mostly in the Chinese province of Sichuan, while more than 300 live in captivity.

Elsewhere, Japan had happier news for its panda fans, as two twin female cubs were born at an amusement park.

The pair were named Ohin and Tohin, the Adventure World amusement park in western Japan’s Wakayama prefecture said today.

The twins’ names were selected from more than 10,000 suggestions from the public following the cubs’ births on December 2 to father Eimei, 22, and mother Rauhin, 14.

The Japanese character for “O” in Ohin is “cherry”, while that for “To” in Tohin is “peach”.

The kanji character “hin” in the two panda cubs’ names is the same as the second character in Shirahama – the name of the city where the park is located – which can be read as both “hama” and “hin.”

Both of the cubs currently weigh 3,000 grams and are more than 50cm in height, park officials said. They are being shown to the public from 1020am to 3 pm.

With additional reporting from Kyodo

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