The Madrid Zoo Aquarium indicated in a statement that the female, Hua Zui Ba, gave birth to the first cub at around 8:30 a.m. after more than four hours of delivery, while the second appeared after noon.
In images of the birth you can see how the female expels the first cub, a small animal without hair and with pink skin that emitted loud squeaks, and then lick it to clean it and put it on her lap.
The giant panda is a vulnerable species, with less than 2,000 specimens remaining in its habitat.
International Union for Conservation of Nature
The newborns “they will be totally dependent on their mother for the next four months“until they can walk on their own, the zoo explained.
Two technicians from the Chengdu Panda Breeding Base in China will help local veterinarians care for the twins, whose sex has not yet been determined, the statement said.
Giant panda couple Hua Zui Ba and their partner Bing Xing previously had four other cubs.
This new birth “constitutes a great contribution in the field of conservation of threatened species,” added the zoo.
Breeding pandas, both in captivity and in the wild, is tricky, according to experts, with very short annual periods of heat for females.