BERLIN (AP) — The Berlin Zoo introduced Friday that longtime resident large panda Meng Meng has given start to twins — for a second time.

The cubs have been born on Thursday, the zoo stated in a press release. They have been born solely 11 days after ultrasound scans confirmed that Meng Meng, 11, was pregnant. Their intercourse has not but been decided “with certainty.”

“Now it’s time to maintain your fingers crossed for the crucial first few days,” the zoo stated. The cubs are tiny, weighing simply 169 grams and 136 grams (about 6 ounces and 4.8 ounces) respectively, and are about 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) lengthy.

As with different giant bears, large pandas are born deaf, blind and pink. Their black-and-white panda markings solely develop later.

“I’m relieved that the 2 have been born wholesome,” zoo director Andreas Knieriem stated. “The little ones make a full of life impression and mother Meng Meng takes nice care of her offspring.”

The zoo stated that big pandas normally solely increase one cub after they give start to twins, so it’ll “actively help” Meng Meng’s baby care in cooperation with two consultants from China’s Chengdu Analysis Base of Large Panda Breeding who’re within the German capital.

“With round 20 births a yr, they’ve far more expertise and are higher in a position to assess growth,” panda curator Florian Sicks stated.

The cubs will alternate being with their mom each two to a few hours to drink milk and are in any other case being cared for in an incubator donated by a Berlin hospital.

Meng Meng and male panda Jiao Qing arrived in Berlin in 2017. In August 2019, Meng Meng gave start to male twins Pit and Paule, additionally identified by the Chinese language names Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan, the primary large pandas born in Germany.

The twins have been a star attraction in Berlin, however they have been flown to China in December — a visit that was contractually agreed from the beginning however delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. China gifted pleasant nations with its unofficial mascot for many years as a part of a “panda diplomacy″ coverage. The nation now loans pandas to zoos on industrial phrases.

Large pandas have issue breeding and births are significantly welcomed. There are about 1,800 pandas residing within the wild in China and some hundred in captivity worldwide.

Meng Meng was artificially inseminated on March 26. Feminine pandas are fertile just for a couple of days per yr on the most.

The brand new arrivals and their mom gained’t be on present to the general public in the intervening time — however guests can nonetheless see Jiao Qing, 14, as male pandas don’t get entangled in rearing cubs.