"After long waiting hours a female panda Huan Huan gave birth to twins on Monday, August 2. The first was delivered at 01:03 (23:03 GMT), the second one at 1:10 (23:10 GMT). Both cubs are pink and big enough," the zoo statement read.
The cubs weigh about 149 grams and 129 grams, both being in a good health.
Huan Huan gave birth to her first cubs in 2017, the first giant pandas ever born in France. Female pandas can only be fertilized 48 hours a year, which complicates panda reproduction. That is why zoo employees resorted to medically assisted procreation rather than counting solely on Huan Huan’s partner, Yuan Zi.
The giant panda is an informal national symbol of China. Sending these pandas to different countries has become a tradition, called panda diplomacy. Huan Huan was loaned to the Beauval zoo for ten years in 2012. The Beauval zoo is France's most popular zoo, which hosted up 1.5 million visitors a year prior to the pandemic.