Giant panda twins have been born in South Korea for the first time, a zoo has said.
Footage from Friday showed the panda mother picking up her first cub with her mouth and then delivering the second cub an hour later. The announcement was broadcast on the zoo’s Youtube channel on Tuesday.
Both twins were female and born at the Everland theme park, near the capital, Seoul, and mother and cubs are in good health, Reuters reported.
Dongchee Chung, the head of the zoo, said: “This feels like a great opportunity to call for better protection and preservation of pandas, which have become a symbol for endangered species.”
South Korean zoo welcomes giant panda twins. Both female, the twins were born at the Everland theme park near the capital Seoul, the zoo announced https://t.co/QwPoQ9Om6i pic.twitter.com/YcZUxuGlsI
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 11, 2023
He added that it was “another important achievement from the cooperation between Korea and China on panda research”.
The first twin weighed 180 grams (6.35 oz) and the second – arriving almost two hours later – weighed 140 grams.
Chung said that between 40 per cent and 50 per cent of panda births are twins.
Giant pandas only have one fertile period throughout the year, which spans between one and three days, and they prefer to live alone in their natural habitats so rarely mate.
The mammals are best known for eating bamboo, and are native to China where they are considered national treasues.
But for decades, Beijing has sent them abroad as ambassadors to show goodwill in what is known as “panda diplomacy”.
Just 1,800 pandas are left in the wild, and are mostly found in the mountains of Sichuan, western China.
The twins’ parents, Ai Bao and father Le Bao, were loaned to South Korea in 2016. She gave birth to Fu Bao, the first locally born panda in 2020. The twins are yet to be named.
Zoo keeper Cherwon Kang said: “Compared to when Fu Bao was born, there are two of them this time and I think (the parents) must be twice as happy.”
Mother Ai Bao had a smoother labour than during her first pregnancy, Kang said.
He added that he felt moved watching Ai Bao give birth and by her example of motherly love.
The zoo confirmed that Fu Bao will be sent back to China at the very latest by July next year.
