TOKYO: Tokyo is preparing to start collecting ideas later this week for naming a new giant panda cub born at its Ueno zoo.
The zoo, Japan’s oldest, has not shown the cub directly to the public. But it released a video of the cub born on June 12 showing the squeaky baby snuggling with its mother ShinShin. The roly-poly female cub already has the characteristic black and white giant panda pattern in its fur and its eyes have opened.
ShinShin’s last cub was born in 2012 and survived only six days. The newcomer appears to be thriving, and is sure to draw huge crowds once it goes on display.
About 420 giant pandas live in captivity, mostly in their native China, while about 1,860 live in the wild.
![]()
![]()
Tokyo to begin seeking names for star giant panda cub
Tokyo to begin seeking names for star giant panda cub
Vietnam police find frozen tiger bodies, arrest two men
Vietnamese police have found two dead tigers inside freezers in a man’s basement, arresting him and another for illicit trade in the endangered animal, the force said Saturday.
The Southeast Asian country is a consumption hub and popular trading route for illegal animal products, including tiger bones which are used in traditional medicine.
Police in Thanh Hoa province, south of the capital Hanoi, said they had found the frozen bodies ot two adult tigers, weighing about 400 kilograms (882 pounds) in total, in the basement of 52-year-old man Hoang Dinh Dat.
In a statement posted online, police said the man told officers he had bought the animals for two billion dong ($77,000), identifying the seller as 31-year-old Nguyen Doan Son.
Both had been arrested earlier this week, police said.
According to the statement, the buyer had equipment to produce so-called tiger bone glue, a sticky substance believed to heal skeletal ailments.
Tigers used to roam Vietnam’s forests, but have now disappeared almost entirely.
Latest updates
Recommended
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.