and failed to meet health standards at one month old, Xinhua quoted Zhang Jinguo, deputy director of the Beijing Zoo, as saying. "Ben Ben now weighs 33 kg (73 lb) and its health is normal," Xinhua said. Xinhua lauded "the panda keepers` efforts" for the dramatic turnaround. Ben Ben`s mother, Yong Yong, was 16 years old and very ill when she gave birth to the panda and its sibling, which was too weak to survive, Xinhua said. The giant panda is China`s most treasured endangered animal, but poachers and human development have taken their toll on the bear-like animal. There are believed to be just 1,000 pandas still living in the wild, mostly in China`s southwestern province of Sichuan. The Beijing Zoo had 14 pandas, 13 of them bred through artificial insemination, Xinhua said.