Berlin Zoo's twin panda babies make their public debut on Wednesday October 15, 2024

One of the two newborn panda bears lies on the bed in the panda enclosure at Berlin Zoo. Since August 22, 2024, the giant pandas at Berlin Zoo have had two cubs. Until now, the twins and their mother, Meng Meng (11), were only cared for in the rear area of the Panda Garden and were not visible to zoo visitors. From October 15, the two little panda cubs will be able to be observed alternately as they grow. Meng Meng remains in the back area with the other cub. Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Berlin Zoo's twin panda babies make their public debut on Wednesday

One of Berlin Zoo's twin panda babies made its first appearance in front of press cameras on Tuesday, and the panda cubs will be shown to the public on a limited basis from Wednesday.

The two female pandas were born at the zoo on August 22. From Wednesday, at least one of the twins will be visible to the public every day in the zoo's Panda Garden for an hour between 13:30 and 14:30.

At a press event on Tuesday, one of the almost two-month-old panda cubs stirred in its bed and squirmed slightly in its sleep behind the panda enclosure's glass pane while photographers took pictures.

The cub now has the typical panda pattern and is the size of a larger rabbit.

“These are the cutest little jumpers imaginable,” said the zoo's director, Andreas Knieriem, visibly moved.

Knieriem said that the panda sisters will be baptized in a ceremony 100 days after their birth, with “cute and snappy” Chinese names “with a Berlin connection.”

They will also be given German nicknames, Knieriem said.

The limited public display of the panda sisters comes a few months before the public debut of panda brothers Pit and Paule, who were born at Berlin Zoo in 2019.

The curator of pandas, Florian Sicks, said that the zoo wanted to allow visitors to marvel at the pandas while they are still very small.

The sisters can be distinguished by their different weights and slightly different sizes, said Sicks.

“We call them little and big,” he added.

The smaller cub's tail also looks a little different, with “a slight kink,” said Sicks.

Sicks said that the twins will be at least eight months old before they start nibbling on bamboo shoots. Until then, they will continue to feed only on the milk of their mother, Meng Meng.

“We hope that the panda cubs will win the hearts of our visitors and, at the same time, draw attention to the need to protect their natural habitats.

“Who better to do that than these little bears with their adorable little eyes?”

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