Beauval ZooParc announced on Friday that its female panda, on loan from China, called Huan Huan, was expecting twins.

A first ultrasound performed on Tuesday had already shown the presence of a baby panda embryo.

Calving is scheduled for late July or early August.

Huan Huan, the female panda loaned by China to the Beauval ZooParc (Loir-et-Cher), is expecting twins, the zoo announced on Friday.

"We saw the second in the other horn of the uterus," said Lucie Brisson, the veterinarian who performed the second ultrasound on Friday in Saint-Aignan (Loir-et-Cher).

A first ultrasound performed on Tuesday showed the presence of a baby panda embryo, measuring 1.74 cm.

This is THE NEWS, long awaited!

#bbpandabeauval: it's confirmed !!!


1 panda embryo has been seen on ultrasound so far!

#HuanHuan is therefore pregnant.

The birth should take place in ten days ... # YuanMengGrandfrère


➡https: //t.co/DL0ItnTczFpic.twitter.com/VDcApmlQZk

- ZooParc de Beauval (@zoobeauval) July 20, 2021

"It often happens with twins in pandas"

This first embryo now measures 3.36 cm.

"The measurements have not yet been made on the second because Huan Huan moved" during the examination, said the veterinarian.

"It often happens with twins in pandas. That's why we looked for the second," said Lucie Brisson, adding that the birth was always scheduled for the end of July or the beginning of August.

At the end of March, the two giant pandas, Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, one of the main attractions of the zoo, had tried to mate, under the watchful eye of veterinarians and caretakers.

Artificial insemination was also carried out as a precaution, the female panda being fertile only 24 to 48 hours per year.

Thanks to this technique, Huan Huan had already given birth to Yuan Meng on August 4, 2017. Aged 4, the first panda born in France now weighs more than one hundred kilograms. Huan Huan then also gave birth to twins, but only Yuan Meng survived.