Giant panda Meng Meng, the star attraction of Berlin Zoo, has given birth to twins for a second time.
The panda cubs were born on Thursday, weighing 169 grammes and 136 grammes (about 6 ounces and 4.8 ounces) respectively, and measuring about 14 centimetres, the zoo in the German capital said.
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“Both cubs are doing well and are being lovingly cared for around the clock by their mum and the experienced panda team. Now it’s time to keep your fingers crossed for the critical first few days,” the zoo said in a statement.
The twins, whose sex has not yet been determined “with certainty”, were born almost naked, deaf, blind and pink. As with other pandas, they will only get their distinctive black and white fur markings later.
Meng Meng, 11 years old, previously gave birth to male twins in August 2019. She was artificially inseminated on March 26, two heartbeats detected by ultrasound just 11 days before the birth.
Meng Meng eats bamboo in an enclosure at the Berlin Zoo, Germany [File: Michael Sohn/AP Photo]
“I am relieved that the two were born healthy,” said the zoo’s director, Andreas Knieriem, adding that the cubs made “a lively impression” and that their mother was demonstrating some proper “bear love”.
The zoo said that giant pandas usually only raise one cub when they give birth to twins, so it will “actively support” Meng Meng’s childcare in cooperation with two experts from China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
The cubs will alternate being with their mother every two to three hours to drink milk and are otherwise being cared for in an incubator donated by a Berlin hospital.
The mother and babies will spend the first few months in the panda barn and will not be visible to zoo visitors for the time being.
Meng Meng and panda father Jiao Qing arrived in Berlin in 2017 as part of a loan agreement with China. Their first set of twins, Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan, also known by their nicknames Pit and Paule, were sent to China in 2023.
Panda cubs Meng Xiang (nicknamed Pit), right, and Meng Yuan (nicknamed Paule) climb in their enclosure during their first birthday in Berlin, Germany [File: Michael Sohn/AP Photo]
Their return had been contractually agreed from the start but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
China gifted friendly nations with its unofficial mascot for decades as part of a “panda diplomacy″ policy. The country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms.
Giant pandas have difficulty breeding, with female pandas only fertile a few days a month at most, and births are particularly welcomed. About 1,800 pandas are living in the wild in China and a few hundred are in captivity worldwide.
