Sensational offspring Panda cubs born again at Berlin Zoo
One of the newborn pandas is measured in an incubator.
Image: dpa
The newborn pandas are thoroughly examined by the experts. Both cubs are doing well.
Image: dpa
The little panda's paws are tiny.
Image: dpa
According to the zoo, the cubs weigh 169 grams and 136 grams respectively and are around 14 centimeters long.
Image: dpa
Two colleagues from the Chengdu Panda Base in China are assisting the zoo in caring for the cubs.
Image: dpa
One of the newborn pandas is measured in an incubator.
Image: dpa
The newborn pandas are thoroughly examined by the experts. Both cubs are doing well.
Image: dpa
The little panda's paws are tiny.
Image: dpa
According to the zoo, the cubs weigh 169 grams and 136 grams respectively and are around 14 centimeters long.
Image: dpa
Two colleagues from the Chengdu Panda Base in China are assisting the zoo in caring for the cubs.
Image: dpa
It's a small sensation: for the second time ever, pandas have been born in Germany. The cubs are completely helpless at first, but then grow rapidly.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Two baby pandas have been born at Berlin Zoo.
- The two cubs are no bigger than guinea pigs.
- This is only the second time ever that two pandas have been born in Germany.
They are the size of a small guinea pig and are really cute: the panda offspring at Berlin Zoo have arrived - and are doing well. This is the good news after an exciting birthday. On Thursday morning, the panda lady Meng Meng was already a little restless, then at around 10 o'clock her waters broke. And then it happened pretty quickly, says zookeeper Ann-Katrin Hübner, describing the moment the little panda was born.
"As slippery as a fish in the hand"
"We were still talking and then you could actually hear the cub's cry and realize that it was there." It sounded similar to human screams at 1.03 pm. A short time later, at 2.09 p.m., a second cub arrived and the mother took both of them directly into her big arms.
"They are almost naked. They only have very light white fur. They are completely pink. There are no black spots at all yet," Hübner continues. "They are quite strong and squirm in your hand, so you have to be very careful not to break anything." Is the comparison with guinea pigs apt? "A small guinea pig with longer arms and legs and as agile and slippery as a fish in the hand."
A small sensation
You can tell that everyone here at the zoo is very excited - after all, it's a minor sensation. This is only the second time ever that two pandas have been born in Germany. Congratulations have been received from the Governing Mayor Kai Wegner, the WWF and from China. Zoo director Andreas Knieriem was delighted: "Mother Meng Meng shows us all what the word 'bear love' means - she takes great care of her offspring." Now it's time to keep your fingers crossed for the first critical days, Berlin Zoo announced.
The cubs are very small, but quite normal for giant pandas, says biologist and panda curator Florian Sicks. According to the zoo, they weigh 169 grams and 136 grams and are around 14 centimeters long. Deaf, blind and completely helpless - they even need help from their mother to defecate and urinate, as Sicks explains. After ten days they will have doubled their weight, and at two months they can walk. They only eat bamboo at six months. The milk of panda bears is extremely rich in energy.
Eleven-year-old female panda Meng Meng is an experienced mother, says vet Franziska Sutter. She instinctively did everything right. In 2019, Meng Meng had already given birth to twins Pit and Paule, who are now back in China. Like their parents, the little pandas also belong to the People's Republic, which only lends them to selected countries as part of panda diplomacy.
Giant pandas don't eat for the first 14 days
After giving birth yesterday, Meng Meng was exhausted and did not eat anything. This is not unusual, says panda curator Sicks. "Even in their natural habitat, giant pandas don't eat for the first 14 days because the cubs are so underdeveloped that they need round-the-clock care from their mother."
She also receives help from two Chinese keepers from the Chengdu Panda Base, who were already on site for the insemination on March 26 and have a great deal of experience. They help Meng Meng, for example, to position the cubs correctly in order to suckle them.
However, it is difficult to tell how much the cubs are drinking, says zookeeper Hübner. "You can't see it. The young animals are completely covered by their arms when they sit at the breast." This is another reason why the young animals are weighed repeatedly.
Wildlife endocrinologist Jella Wauters from the Department of Reproductive Biology at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research was able to predict the time of birth very accurately. Using urine analyses, Wauters checked the hormones - and knew early on that it was going to happen. It was not the first birth of giant pandas that she had witnessed, but each one is special. "They are a very special species." About half of the time, pandas give birth to twins.
It will be a while before visitors can see them
According to the zoo, the gestation period was 149 days. Meng Meng and the cubs will spend the first period in the back of the panda stable. It will be some time before visitors can see the animals. Knieriem hopes that this will be the case before Christmas. As is usual in the wild, panda father Jiao Qing is not involved in the rearing. He sits in the enclosure as usual and eats bamboo.
According to the zoo, there are fewer than 2000 adult giant pandas in their natural habitat. Every single cub is therefore an important contribution to the conservation of this endangered species, according to the zoo.