China's state media reported on Wednesday that last year's baby boom among pandas living in captivity has pushed the total number of pandas bred in the country's panda sanctuaries to 217.

In 2006, 34 panda babies were born following artificial insemination procedures. Thirty of them survived. According to Cao Qingyao, a spokesman for the State Forestry Administration, both figures were record-breakers for the panda, which is an endangered species.

The most recent births this fall were marked by some extraordinary events, such as that of twin pandas each giving birth to another set of twins at the Chengdu Giant Panda Reproduction and Research Center in Sichuan. A total of 12 cubs were born at the Chengdu facility last year.

Another record was set at the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, where a newborn cub tipped the scales at 218 grams, becoming thus the heaviest cub ever born in captivity. Most cubs weigh between 83 and 190 grams. The baby's mother, also made her mark by enduring the longest delivery in the history of panda breeding. The center became the home of 17 new panda cubs in 2006.

The last one of the thirty pandas born in 2006 was bred at a zoo in the southwestern city of Chongqing.

The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species. It can be found in its natural habitat only in China, where it is a national treasure. According to a 2002 government census, an estimated 1,600 wild pandas live in nature reserves in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.

It is very difficult to breed pandas artificially because the females can become pregnant only once a year and give birth to two cubs at the most each time. In captivity, pandas also do not move much, which lowers the success rate even more.

In 2005, China's zoos and breeding centers witnessed the births of 21 panda cubs.