Everything in the capital: The Panda twins in the Berlin Zoo hear the names Meng Xiang ("longed-for dream") and Meng Yuan ("fulfilled dream"). Name and sex of the two males announced the zoo on Monday - according to Chinese tradition 100 days after the birth of the now about six kilograms of juvenile.
The two were presented to the media in the zoo, they had made themselves comfortable on heating mats. Berlin's Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) and China's ambassador to Germany, Wu Ken, also attended the ceremony. For zoo visitors, the panda bears should be seen until 2020.
The twins were born on August 31st. It was after first unsuccessful attempts with other couples the first ever Panda birth in Berlin. According to the Chinese ambassador, there had been no panda birth in Germany before. Thus, only 60 pandas were born worldwide this year, of which 57 survived. Panda pups are sparsely haired and blind.
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Panda twins in the Berlin Zoo: Meng Xiang and Meng YuanPanda mother Meng Meng and male Jiao Qing have been living in Berlin Zoo since summer 2017 as the only big pandas nationwide. They are as well as their boys loans from China. For the adult animals, the zoo pays about one million US dollars per year (about 900,000 euros), which, according to Chinese information, flow back into the panda breed. About the sum for the young animals makes the zoo no information.
According to zoo director Andreas Knieriem, the "two little treasures" are a symbol that mankind practices cannibalism in nature and more needs to be done to preserve the habitat.
"Very healthy and magnificent"
The two babies have so far developed "very healthy and splendid," said Chinese panda expert Jingchao Lan. Müller and Wu praised the "Panda Family Foundation" in Berlin as an important contribution to the protection of species and as a symbol of German-Chinese friendship.
According to the zoo, around 1860 of the world's largest adult pandas live in the wild. The species, also known as the bamboo bear, is only found in a few protected areas in China.
The herbivore, with its distinctive black and white coat drawing, is one of the symbolic animals for environmental and species protection worldwide. There is a large-scale breeding and offspring program.
