Who doesn’t love giant pandas? Not only are they large and fluffy, but those innocent faces are enough to make anyone smile.
Despite how adorable they are when sitting around and nibbling on their bamboo sticks, nothing will make you say “aww!” quite like a pair of newborn twin pandas.
Image Credit: Skeeze/Pixabay
Beauval Zoo, located in the central region of France, acts as a temporary home to a giant panda named Huan Huan, and the zoo says she’s expecting twins any day now. Experts from China are already on the scene, preparing to deliver the twins.
As exciting as this might be for panda-lovers, there’s a bit of skepticism about the situation because panda mothers are known to neglect one of their cubs after giving birth to twins. Ultimately, this results in the abandoned cub failing to survive, and that’s enough to put a frown on anyone’s face.
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Zoo staff and the international care experts will do everything in their power to ensure both cubs survive, especially since the creatures are marked as “vulnerable” by the World Wildlife Fund. Although they were downgraded from the “endangered” status last year, that’s no reason to let our guard down and stop protecting the species.
To do this, they’ll cycle the cubs between the mother and an incubator, ensuring each one gets its fair share of care and feeding. There’s no guarantee that the mother won’t see through this trickery, but if she does, that’s why the experts are there.
As you can probably imagine, France doesn’t play host to very many panda cub births because these animals are native to China. In fact, when Huan Huan finally delivers her babies, it will be the first time a giant panda birth ever took place in the country.
Related: Panda cub born in Tokyo appears to be healthy
Both Huan Huan and her mate Yuan Zi are scheduled to return to China in 2022. The two giant pandas are only staying in France on loan. Both baby cubs will be sent over to China as well, but this will happen sooner than 2022.
Source: Reuters
