In what comes as good news for animal lovers, the giant panda Shin Shin has given birth to twin cubs at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo. It is time to celebrate as it is the first panda birth in the zoo after four long years.
The good news comes just a month ahead of the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games. The Pandas were born an hour and a half apart, the Tokyo Zoo’s website listed. They were born at 1:03 am (1403 GMT) and 2:32 am on Wednesday. Their gender has not been determined, and they have not yet been named, reports said.
“All the staff are working together to observe and protect the giant panda mother and children,” the zoo said in a statement on its panda website.
One of the cubs weighs 124 g (4.37 ounces) while the other’s weight is yet to be determined, according to the announcement. The cubs look too cute in the pictures released by the zoo’s website. They are roughly the length of an adult human hand.
It is not immediately known when the newborn cubs are expected to go on display at the zoo.
“The pandas are now a family of five. This is such happy news,” said Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Katsunobu Kato, offering his congratulations to the zookeepers on the birth.
He added, “I believe everyone at the zoo is doing all they can day and night to keep the panda family healthy first, and I hope everyone will watch over them warmly and quietly.”
Worth mentioning, the giant panda Shin Shin was born on July 3, 2005, at the Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong, China, and arrived at Ueno Zoo a decade ago, along with her male partner Ri Ri. The pair is also parents to a female panda named Xiang Xiang, born in June 2017.
Ms Kalinga