Giant panda's tender moment with cub

The first pictures have been released of a cub born to the giant panda Zhuyun in China's Sichuan Province.

Worried keepers at the at the Ya'an reserve south of Wolong looked on as the mother picked up the tiny baby in her mouth.

The male cub was born pink and almost hairless with a weight of 5.6oz (159.5 g) and a length of 6 inches (14.8cm).

After careful observation, both the mother and the cub were in good health despite the brief concern caused when the mother picked the cub up in her jaws to take him for a walk.

Zhuyun mated with a male named Lingling in March and began to show signs of giving birth to the young in mid June.

The baby will not be named yet for another 100 days in line with tradition which always dictates that panda cubs live without a name when first born.

It is Zhuyun's second cub. Her first cub, Minmin, is among the 10 giant pandas sent to Shanghai during the 2010 World Expo.

Both Zhuyun and Lingling belong to the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre.

Giant pandas are among the world's most endangered species. According to the State Forestry Administration, about 1,590 pandas live in the wild, mostly in the mountains of Sichuan, and more than 210 live in captivity.

The 200,000-hectare Wolong Nature Reserve, founded in 1963, is home to the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre, which was damaged in the massive earthquake of May 2008 and almost all of the 150-plus pandas under its custody were sent to the Ya'an reserve. The Wolong centre is being rebuilt.