Several newborn tiger cubs have been making their public debut and delighting tourists at zoos across China ahead of the International Tiger Day which falls on Monday.
Founded by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) back in 2010, the International Tiger Day is held annually on July 29 and aims to raise awareness of the important conservation work needed to protect the natural habitat of the endangered big cats.
Among the sites introducing new cubs to visitors for the first time is the Wangcheng Park Zoo in Luoyang City of central China's Henan province.
The Wangcheng Park Zoo began to breed the first batch of South China Tigers -- one of the most endangered animal species in China -- back in 1985, and is now home to the largest number of these tigers anywhere in the country.
The latest two additions to the zoo's South China tiger population have just reached 100 days old, and on Sunday the twins were unveiled to the public for the first time, delighting visitors.
"I like the tiger cubs very much. I'm very happy today. I'll come back and see them again," said Han Xuhang, a young tourist.
Staff at the zoo say that a dedicated team has been assigned to care for the twins and are observing their condition every day.
"These two South China tigers are twin brothers. Their mother has no parenting experience, so we zookeepers have taken on the responsibility of the tiger mother. When the two little tigers were born, one weighed 1,175 grams and the other 1,120 grams. Currently, they both weigh around four kilograms," said Liu Zhaoyang, the deputy head of the Wangcheng Park.
Video footage shows the young tiger duo to be bright-eyed and alert as they cautiously survey their surroundings and zookeepers say they are developing well, and are now consuming plenty of food.
"They have a big appetite now. They can eat four meals a day, including two milk feeds and two meat feeds," said Liu.
Meanwhile, it's been a happy summer so far at the Guaipo Tiger Park in Shenyang City of northeast China's Liaoning Province, where two Siberian tiger mothers have each given birth to triplets - including five males and one female cub. Their birth dates are less than two weeks apart, and they are currently being raised by one of the mother tigers.
"We will gradually increase the milk feeds for the young tigers after they are 20 days old. Then when they are around 40 days old, we will start adding minced meat to their diet. At around 50 days, we will begin feeding them chicken carcasses," said Feng Zhirong, a veterinarian at the Guaipo Tiger Park.
As Siberian tigers prefer colder weather, the zookeepers have prepared a water pond, a fountain, and ice blocks to help the tiger mothers and their cubs stay cool during the scorching summer days.
Zookeepers say they will also look to gradually expand the activity range of the young tigers, in order to improve their ability to survive and adapt in the wild.
Newborn tiger cubs meet visitors at Chinese zoos ahead of Int'l Tiger Day
South China's tech hub of Shenzhen City has taken steps to accelerate the development of its embodied intelligence industry by fully unleashing its advantages in supply chains and human resources, further consolidating the city's status as the world factory of international intelligent manufacturing.
Embodied intelligence refers to the integration of artificial intelligence into physical entities, such as humanoid robots, enabling them to sense, learn and interact with their environment.
AI-powered mobile phones, AI-driven computers and intelligent robots are key examples of embodied intelligence devices.
At the Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics for Society, a group of researchers and leaders in charge of research and development from enterprises observed and shared insights on a newly developed agile robot hand.
Possessing tactile perception capability, the robot hand is able to detect variations in external pressure and temperature and its palm has an embedded camera, which is capable of capturing visual signals.
"Typically, large models all apply internet data, but internet data cannot offer tactile signals or signals from cameras embedded in the palm of a robot hand. So, such signals are especially critical for us to train the basic models of new robots. We can use them to train more large models and make them fit better with various movements that we find in human society, and this is a big advantage that we are trying to combine," said Zhang Jianguo, director of the Robotic Systems Center of the resarch institute.
The institute is currently spearheading collaborative efforts across Shenzhen's embodied intelligence industrial chain, mobilizing upstream and downstream companies to tackle common technical challenges in the sector.
By means of the value of connectivity of integrated platforms, the enterprises can also help robot makers collect real data from a wide variety of application scenarios. "Data collected from a wide range of scenarios, including manufacturing, water utilities, power grids and municipal operations, will be gathered into a credible platform. With further integration, it will produce a richer and more diverse description of multiple scenarios, such as production and manufacturing," said Ding Ning, executive vice president of the research institute.
Shenzhen has recently released a three-year action plan to promote technological innovation and industrial development for the sector of embodied intelligence robot.
The plan set out more specific goals such as cultivating no less than 10 enterprises each valued at over 10 billion yuan (about 1.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the embodied intelligence field, achieving a scale of related industries that are worth more than 100 billion yuan, and establishing an industrial cluster grouping more than 1,200 embodied intelligence robotics companies.
"We will provide comprehensive support for enterprises by focusing on making breakthroughs in key technologies and supply of elements, including data collection, scenario supply, human resources policy support, etc. Our goal is also clear. By seizing the pivotal time window and the opportunities brought by the development of embodied intelligence, within two to three years, we will cultivate a trillion-yuan-grade embodied intelligence industrial cluster in Shenzhen and the broader Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster in south China that serves both China and the rest of the world," said Zhang Lin, director of the Shenzhen City Science and Technology Innovation Bureau.
South China's Shenzhen accelerates development of embodied intelligence industry
