Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) Under intense public scrutiny, the first giant panda born in Taiwan half-opened both of her eyes Saturday, a milestone in the animal's short life.
Taipei Zoo announced that day that giant panda Yuan Yuan's cub, nicknamed Yuanzai, was observed to have both her eyes half-open during a regular health check earlier in the day.
Giant pandas, like most mammals, are born with their eyes closed because the organs have not yet fully developed, Taipei Zoo Secretary Chang Chih-hua explained at a press conference.
The cubs perceive their mother and the environment around them through smell and hearing before their eyes open and develop the ability to focus, Chang noted.
Normally, he went on, giant panda cubs open their eyes for the first time when they are around 45 days old. In Yuanzai's case, however, the moment happened at 42 days, thanks to her bigger size at birth compared with other cubs of her kind, Chang said.
After her eyes have opened fully, Yuanzai will begin to gradually explore her living environment, he added.
The cub is not expected to be presented to the public until she is over five months old, he went on.
Yuanzai has been under the intensive care of a team of specialists at the zoo since her birth July 6. She weighed 183.4 grams at birth and is now 2,130 grams, her caregivers said.
The birth, which created a big sensation in Taiwan, came after four years of artificial insemination attempts, using sperm from the only other giant panda at the zoo, Tuan Tuan.
The pandas, whose names in Chinese mean "unification," were given to Taiwan four years ago by China to symbolize the warming ties between the two sides.
(By Liu Chien-pang and Elizabeth Hsu)
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo, Aug. 17, 2013