Meng Meng, the female panda at the Berlin Zoo, gave birth to twins on Saturday night, the zoo announced on Monday, a first for Germany. "Meng Meng and his two children are doing well," Berlin Zoo Director Andreas Knieriem said in the statement.
The two giant pandas were born one hour apart Saturday after 147 days of pregnancy and weigh 186 and 136 grams. Their sex has not been determined yet. As pandas "generally raise only one baby after the birth of twins", the zoo "decided to help Meng Meng actively" by keeping the cubs in an incubator for several hours a day, he says.
>>> READ ALSO - IN PICTURES - At Beauval Zoo, baby panda Yuan Meng celebrates its first birthday
"There are only 1,864 adult giant pandas in the wild and therefore every baby contributes to the conservation of the species," recalls Andreas Knieriem. Meng Meng, "Little Dream" in French and the male Jiao Qing, which means "Little Treasure", are hosted in the German capital since June 2017.
The two plantigrades were presented with great pomp by Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping. They are the only animals of this species visible today in the country and the birth is a first for Germany.
Twins born by artificial insemination
The female had been artificially inseminated to increase the chances of fertilization, even though the two animals appeared to mate. The move to Berlin of these giant pandas, considered national treasures in China, was a new episode of the "pandas diplomacy" initiated by Beijing to maintain good relations with its partners.
China has sent these special ambassadors to only a dozen countries, including France, where a baby panda was born last year. Babies born abroad usually leave for China after three or four years, once weaned. Meng Meng and her twins will not be visible to the public at the moment, unlike their father. Panda babies are raised exclusively by their mothers.