The giant panda Huan Huan, which means “Happy” in Chinese, and her twin cubs are seen inside their enclosure after she gave birth at Beauval Zoo in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, Central France, on August 1, 2021. – Huan Huan, the female panda lent by China to the ZooParc de Beauval (Loir-et-Cher), gave birth to two twins in good health in the night of Sunday to Monday, noted a journalist of the AFP.
The two small pandas, born shortly after 01:00 Monday, come to enrich the panda family of Beauval, already strong of their father Yuan Zi and their big brother Yuan Meng, born on August 4, 2017. (Photo by Guillaume SOUVANT / AFP)
Giant panda on loan to France gives birth to twin cubs
Years after giving birth to the first panda born in France, Huan Huan, the bear on loan from China, gave birth to two healthy female cubs on Monday.
The giant panda Huan Huan, which means “Happy” in Chinese, and her twin cubs are seen inside their enclosure after she gave birth at Beauval Zoo in Saint-Aignan-sur-Cher, Central France, on August 1, 2021. – Huan Huan, the female panda lent by China to the ZooParc de Beauval (Loir-et-Cher), gave birth to two twins in good health in the night of Sunday to Monday, noted a journalist of the AFP.
The two small pandas, born shortly after 01:00 Monday, come to enrich the panda family of Beauval, already strong of their father Yuan Zi and their big brother Yuan Meng, born on August 4, 2017. (Photo by Guillaume SOUVANT / AFP)
The giant panda on loan to France from China, Huan Huan, gave birth to twin cubs at the Beauval Zoo on Monday, 2 August. The twins are Huan Huan and her partner Yuan Zi’s second and third cub since 2017 when the first panda, Yuan Meng, was born in France in 2017.
ON-LOAN PANDA GIVES BIRTH TO TWINS
The cubs were born at the Zoo in Saint-Aignan, central France, at approximately 1:00 and are reportedly in good health.
“The two babies are pink. They are perfectly healthy. They look big enough. They are magnificent,” said President of Zoo-Parc de Beauval, Rodolphe Delord, according to AFP.
The birth is a big deal because panda reproduction is notoriously difficult in both the wild and captivity. Animal experts say few of the bears “get in the mood or even know what to do when they do,” according to AFP.
The conception window is also very small – female pandas only go into heat once a year for approximately 24-48 hours. Zoo staff were thrilled when Huan Huan and Yuan Zi “made contact” eight times in a weekend. However, veterinarians at the zoo also carried out artificial insemination, even though the couple mated, just to be sure.
The Associated Press reported that the panda cubs were female and weighed 149 and 129 grams. Beauval Zoo said that the cubs’ genders were determined by their expert Chinese caretakers but it will take some time before their genders are known for certain as panda cubs do not display external genitalia until they are several months old.
The panda cubs will not be named for 100 days, as Peng Liyuan – the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping – will select a name, according to the zoo. The cubs will stay in France for a few more years while their older sibling, Yuan Meng, is expected to return to China in 2021.
The Asian country has gifted pandas to nations it is on friendly terms with for years, the practice has become known as “panda diplomacy.” Huan Huan was loaned to France for 10 years. China has an estimated 1800 giant pandas living in the wild and a further 500 in captivity.
Additional reporting by AFP.
