The two small plantigrades, born shortly after 1 a.m., will add to the zoo’s panda family, which already includes father Yuan Zi and his brother Yuan Meng, born on August 4, 2017.
“The two babies are pink. They are both in perfect health. They look quite big. They are beautiful,” said the president of ZooParc de Beauval, Rodolphe Delord, from the control center of the panda breeding center.
“The first 10 days are the sensitive period, but the two babies, two girls in principle, they are solid and Huan Huan performs better. She has the gestures of a good mother. It’s a very nice birth, “said Baptiste Mulot, the zoo’s chief veterinarian.
The two babies are pink. They are both in perfect health. They look pretty big. They are beautiful
The sex of the two babies can be determined for sure within a few days, he said.
A Chinese caregiver from the Chengdu Giant Panda Research Center, who came especially to attend the birth, managed to retrieve one of the babies for care and place in an incubator.
The first baby weighed 149 grams, a “very reassuring” weight for a baby panda.
“The bigger, the less fragile. They are in the upper part because at birth they must weigh between 100 and 150 grams,” explained the veterinarian.
The second baby, who was a little longer with his mother, weighs 128 grams.
At the end of March, the two pandas giants, Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, one of the zoo’s main attractions, copulated. But as a precaution, an artificial insemination was also carried out since the female panda is only fertile between 24 and 48 hours per year.
Thanks to this technique, Huan Huan had her first child. Now four years old, the first panda born in France, he weighs more than 100 kilos. His twin did not survive.
Newborns will be named within 100 days and will be handled by the Chinese first lady, the zoo said.