Giant panda cubs are very rare so when a bumper crop of cubs are born, it is certainly cause for celebration. And that is what the giant panda breeding centre in Ya'an, Sichuan province, China, did last Saturday. The centre organised a photo shoot of the 18 cubs, a record number, born this year.

Giant pandas are endangered, with about 1,800 living in the wild, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Around 75 per cent of the world's giant panda population live in Sichuan province.