I try not to let my fondness for adorable animals take over my science blog, but in this case, this link is perfect: it has cute panda pictures AND science! (Also, it's not just me: check this link out for why humans think some animals, including pandas, are irresistibly cute).
It used to be very difficult for pandas to successfully breed and raise their young in captivity, but recently captive breeding programs have improved their techniques (49 pandas were born in captivity last year, and 42 survived). Zookeepers have found success in alternating the time a mother panda spends with twin cubs, because if both twins stayed with her, she would abandon one. To preserve genetic diversity, zookeepers are now moving away from breeding previously successful males and breeding wild pandas that are rescued to be new "founders" to introduce new genes into captive pandas. This is so there is more chance that some captive pandas will be less vulnerable to disease and hardier overall.
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/24/255743840/beyond-cuteness-scientists-deliver-a-panda-baby-boom
It used to be very difficult for pandas to successfully breed and raise their young in captivity, but recently captive breeding programs have improved their techniques (49 pandas were born in captivity last year, and 42 survived). Zookeepers have found success in alternating the time a mother panda spends with twin cubs, because if both twins stayed with her, she would abandon one. To preserve genetic diversity, zookeepers are now moving away from breeding previously successful males and breeding wild pandas that are rescued to be new "founders" to introduce new genes into captive pandas. This is so there is more chance that some captive pandas will be less vulnerable to disease and hardier overall.
http://www.npr.org/2013/12/24/255743840/beyond-cuteness-scientists-deliver-a-panda-baby-boom
Photo credits: (Clockwise, from left) Xinhua/Landov; Courtesy of Zoo Atlanta; Animal Press/Barcroft Media/Landov; Courtesy of Zoo Atlanta; EPA/Sergio Barrenechea/Landov; Abby Wood/UPI/Landov