BERLIN, Germany (KMID/KPEJ) – The two-week-old German panda twins born at Berlin Zoo are developing well, the zoo said on Friday. They have more than doubled their birth weight and currently weigh 510 grams and 450 grams, respectively.
The typical black-and-white panda look is also starting to manifest itself: the once pink baby pandas now have black ears and eye rings and a dark stripe around their shoulders.
Berlin Zoo said it was cautiously optimistic at this critical time, with panda cubs having the highest mortality rate in the first two weeks after birth and during the first month, as they do not yet have a functioning immune system.
Without human help, one of the cubs likely would not have survived, since giant pandas typically raise only one cub when they have twins. So the zoo sprang into action with a team of visiting experts from China’s Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
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For decades, China gave its unofficial mascot to friendly countries as part of its policy of “panda diplomacy.” The country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms. There are about 1,800 pandas in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide.
The female twins were born on August 22 to their 11-year-old mother, Meng Meng. Female pandas are fertile for a maximum of a few days each year. The twins’ father, 14-year-old Jiao Qing, is not involved in the cubs’ upbringing.
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