1st spotted seal born at city park
A SPOTTED seal was born at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park in the Pudong New Area yesterday, the first spotted seal born at the park.
Two of the park’s adult spotted seals mated last February, and two animal keepers were assigned to closely monitor the mother-to-be, according to the park operator.
“Seals are very timid, so a natural environment was created to facilitate a smooth delivery of the baby,” said Zhu Haojie, a seal keeper.
The mother’s problem-free delivery took a little over an hour. She is breastfeeding her healthy baby. In three or four weeks, the baby is expected to swim and live independently, at which point park visitors will be able to see him.
Top: Premature quadruplets, born in October 2013 with cerebral palsy, have been treated in a hospital in Hefei, capital of east China’s Anhui Province, in 2014. Bottom: The kids go back home in a pedicab on Tuesday after school. Their dad Chang Sheng and mom Zhu Chengzhen took them to many places for therapy in their early years, at great expense. Thanks to China’s poverty eradication, the family was listed as a low income family and benefited from local poverty alleviation policies. Their parents can now care for them and hold down jobs at the same time. The family is no longer on the poverty list. — Xinhua