A giant panda that gave birth at Vienna’s Schoenbrunn Zoo last week was hiding a tiny little secret – an extra cub.
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Because pandas like their privacy when giving birth, zookeepers didn’t realize until a week later that she had actually given birth to two cubs.
Those suspicions were confirmed on Friday, Aug. 12, when Yang Yang was caught on camera cradling twin baby pandas, the zoo said in a news release on its website today.
“It had sounded as if there were two young animals squeaking, but the pictures only ever showed one”, Schratter said.
The Schoenbrunn Zoo said no other European zoo has managed to breed giant pandas by natural means.
“The little ones can be rarely seen on the pictures because Yang Yang warms them between her large paws most of the time”.
Weighing just 100 grams, the newborn has not yet developed the distinctive black and white fur and is pink in colour. According to the Associated Press, the zoo’s pregnant panda, Yang Yang, gave birth on August 7 to what staff members thought was just one cub.
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Yang Yang and her partner Long Hui, both aged 16, are already the proud parents of Fu Long, Fu Hu and Fu Bao, born in 2007, 2010 and 2013 respectively – and all conceived naturally.
