Being cute is exhausting, apparently.
A set of adorable pictures have emerged showing tiny black-and-white bears falling fast asleep at a panda nursery in China.
Probably the cutest school you’ve ever seen, the nursery is dedicated to looking after newborn cubs at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base.
Bear-ly awake! A group of cute cubs are seen fast asleep inside the ‘panda nursery’ at the Chengdu breeding centre, China
Exhausted: The panda nursery is dedicated to taking care of newborn bears before they are old enough to be sent elsewhere
Sweet dreams: After these cubs are strong enough, the nursery will send them to panda centres, zoos or into the wild
The breeding base, located in south-west China’s Sichuan Province, is the world’s largest artificial breeding population of captive pandas.
Every year, all the newborn pandas are gathered at the nursery to be looked after by specialist keepers.
Last year, the nursery took care of 23 cubs born at the centre. Just last week, the nursery unveiled 11 panda cubs born to eight panda mothers this year.
Too cute: Last year, the nursery took care of 23 cubs and this year 11 cubs have made their debut at the nursery
Bear with me: One of the playful pandas lies on the floor as Israeli photographer Dafna Ben Nun takes a picture of it
Around-the-clock care: The cubs are sent to the nursery after being born at the Sun or Moon delivery rooms at the base
Photographer Dafna Ben Nun, from Israel, took these pictures on her visit to the nursery.
Dafna, 37, said: ‘These photos show month old cubs in the nursery where they are being kept and looked after for a few months until they are ready to be sent to panda centres, zoos or released into the wild.
‘The cubs love to see interactions between them.’
Time for a rest: The panda appeared to look bored as it slumps on a tree at the Wolong National Nature Reserve
Thoughtful: Photographer Dafna considers it ‘very important’ to conserve the pandas as ‘they are very territorial animals’
The black-and-white bear, a symbol of China, was shifted off the endangered species list last year – after years of intensive conservation efforts.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said in a report released last September that the animal is now classified as a ‘vulnerable’ instead of ‘endangered’ species, reflecting its growing numbers in the wild in southern China.
Commenting on China’s effort in protecting and breeding pandas, Dafna said: ‘I think it is very important to conserve the pandas, they are very territorial animals so the biggest problem after releasing them into the wild is that they can kill each other. ‘
Playful: A one-year-old panda plays on a tree at the Bifengxia Panda Base near the Ya’an City of Sichuan Province
Panda, a symbol of China, was shifted off the endangered species list last year after years of intensive conservation efforts
She added: ‘China has managed to breed pandas successfully in the last few years – and even many pandas give birth to twins!
‘In the wild the mum chooses one to raise and the other one dies – but they realised if they help the mum raise the cubs by taking one and swapping between them both then they will survive.’
Besides the nursery, the centre has two maternity wards to look after expectant panda mothers around the clock.
The two wards are called ‘Sun Delivery Room’ and ‘Moon Delivery Room’ respectively. And as their names show, one of them takes care of pandas in the day time and the other at night.
Acrobatic: Although pandas might appear to be quiet, the younger pandas could be naughty when they play with each other