While we all know what a giant panda looks like, chances are if you were to see one as a newborn, you wouldn’t even recognize it.
Far from their massive parental counterparts, baby giant pandas are born completely helpless.
The adorable critters come out wrinkly, pink, bald, and no bigger than a stick of butter, according to National Geographic.
In addition to entering the world as tiny, vibrant, furless cubs, they also lack the ability to regulate their own body temperatures, walk, hear, or crawl.
They can’t even hold themselves up or poop or pee on their own.
Basically, they need their mamas.
Moms handle all their needs.
Mother pandas have to cradle the babies to keep them warm and rub their bellies to stimulate their muscles to release bodily waste.
“In these early weeks, panda mothers don’t leave their cubs, even when they need to eat or drink,” National Geographic explains.
So, when a panda mother gives birth to twins, she will often only be able to care for one child at a time and will abandon the weaker of the two twins.
Caretakers of pandas in captivity will often step in to take care of the abandoned twin by switching them on the mother so they both get maternal attention and feedings.
The Washington Post reports that adult animals will often abandon their babies if the baby has a foreign smell to them.
This can be problematic when it comes to breeding in a zoo.
This can occur if the babies have been handled by humans.
While BBC Earth doesn’t completely explain why how Min Min and her baby were separated, their reunion was heartwarming just the same.
Min Min’s baby was in the hands of her human caretakers who had her in an incubator and were keeping her nice and warm.
Though the baby finally sprouted some white hairs, her eyes were still closed.
Still, the staff deemed her healthy enough to be reunited with her mom.
But caretakers weren’t sure if Min Min had enough time to bond with their baby. She also had the smell of humans on her.
They worried Min Min would reject her.
The caretakers decided to bring the two together to find out. Min Min was being kept in a room with tiled walls and a smooth stone floor with some handfuls of grass to eat.
Caretakers opened the door and held the baby by its bottom while it yelped for its mama and tried to run toward her.
This poor little thing is literally screaming for its mom but Min Min stayed in her corner showing little interest. It wasn’t a good sign.
Min Min’s keepers held out hope.
They brought the baby closer.
Then, they let go of her.
The baby wailed and rolled around on the floor waiting for mom to pick her up.
Still, Min Min just ignored her helpless baby. The keepers decided to tidy up the cell a bit to make Min Min more comfortable.
Eventaully, Min Min’s “Mama” instincts finally kicked into full gear.
Must’ve been the crying, right moms?
Whatever the cause, Min Min finally gave into motherhood and once she did it was the sweetest thing to see.
She caresses her baby as she cradles it in her arms, soothing all her cries away. You can almost hear the staff sigh in collective relief.
See the heartwarming moment Min Min opens herself to motherhood to calm her cub in the video below!
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