Hancock Wildlife Foundation

Magical moments are currently taking place behind the scenes of the Panda Garden at Zoo Berlin. Using her large, powerful paws, a first-time panda mum lovingly snuggles her tiny pink newborn into the warm, soft fur of her face. On Saturday evening, Berlin’s panda population doubled as Germany welcomed its first-ever panda offspring – two of them!

The past few weeks at Zoo Berlin have been particularly tense and exciting, with plenty of waiting and crossed fingers. Finally, on 31 August at 6:54 p.m., the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived: following a gestation period of 147 days, female panda Meng Meng (6) gave birth to her very first cub. The joyous event came just one week after experts from Zoo Berlin and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) were able to perform an ultrasound scan that determined Meng Meng was indeed pregnant. Immediately after giving birth, the new mother knew just what to do: she placed the tiny creature gently on her belly and began to warm it lovingly with her big paws, warm breath, and the soft fur of her cheeks. But mother and child weren’t alone for long, as at 7:42 p.m. – just under an hour later – a second cub was born!

“Meng Meng and her two cubs coped well with the birth and are all in good health,” reports veterinarian and Zoo and Tierpark Director Dr Andreas Knieriem with relief. “Even though these are the first offspring born to our young female panda, she is already doing a wonderful job as a mum. In the beginning, the young have to feed roughly every two to three hours and are dependent on the body heat of their mother to keep warm.”

Germany’s first panda cubs don’t display any resemblance to their parents just yet: they were born pink with fine white down and a disproportionately large tail. But though otherwise helpless, the young bears clearly came out with strong lungs – and immediately put them to good use. Meng Meng responds to their loud squeaks by carefully guiding the little ones to her teats to feed. As pandas that give birth to twins usually only raise one of the cubs, in close cooperation with Chinese experts of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding Zoo Berlin has decided to actively support Meng Meng in the rearing process. “There are only 1,864 adult pandas currently living in their natural habitat,” says Knieriem. “As a result, every single new cub represents an important contribution to the conservation of the species.” The young pandas are therefore currently on alternating, two-to-three-hour shifts with their mother, and are otherwise being cared for in a cosy warm incubator by the Chinese breeding experts. Vets have even managed to conduct an initial examination – with promising results. The cubs weigh 186 and 136 grams respectively, and generally seem lively and alert. The sexes have not been determined yet.

Our keeper Corvin takes you today to weigh in the Panda Garden

>> Both cubs have a weight of 1400 gram

Zoo Berlin-Baby Pandas opened their eyes for the first time.
Eight weeks old, they can see the world around them,
they are getting more and more active.
So it’s the perfect time to move them into a much roomier “panda playpen”.

They are grown up to 30 centimeter length
and weigh 2.578 gram & 2.532 gram.

Zoo Tierpark Berlin

Our BabyPandasBerlin weigh more than 4 kg and become 3 month old next week.

Zoo Tierpark [email protected]

#ZooBerlin’s best-kept secret is out now:
the #pandatwins are both male and have officially been given the names Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan.

The two names complement one another well in Chinese and roughly translate as “desired dream” (Meng Xiang) and “fulfilled dream” (Meng Yuan).

01/29/2020 - A big day out for little bears!

Zoo Berlin’s panda twins take their first steps outdoors

Pit (Meng Xiang) uses his sharp claws to drag his fluffy round body along the thick branch that leads to the bathing pool filled with bark mulch. His brother Paule (Meng Yuan) is waiting for him, and greets him with a playful chomp into his fur – that’s how panda cubs express brotherly love! This morning, the twins took their first trip outside with mum Meng Meng (7). Everything went well, which means that from this Thursday the panda family will finally be on view to visitors.


The Zoo Berlin team has waited a long time for this moment, ever since the panda twins were born 152 days ago on 31 August 2019, weighing just 186 and 136 grams respectively. Now, the keepers are delighted to be able to present their darlings to the public. “On this special day I would particularly like to thank the Zoo’s committed team of keepers, vets and biologists,” said Zoo and Tierpark Director Dr Andreas Knieriem. “But I am also grateful to everyone else who contributed to the successful breeding of these wonderful bears here at Zoo Berlin – the first pandas ever to be born in Germany. We hope Zoo visitors will now join us in welcoming these special black-and-white Berlin bears.” The twins enjoy hanging out on their wooden climbing posts, but their favourite thing to do is play fight with one another. The two brothers have already developed very different characters:


Pit (Meng Xiang)

Laid-back, dreamy, and always ready for a nap – that’s our Pit! He may be the older of the two by a whole 48 minutes, but he has no interest in taking the lead when it comes to exploring. However, mild-mannered Pit does have another side that occasionally comes out: if the rough and tumble

with his brother gets too much, he reprimands him with a loud yelp.

Paule (Meng Yuan)
Paule is a lively little fellow known for his mischievous, inquisitive nature. For him, no rock is too high to climb and no nook too small to sniff at. Paule just loves to go exploring. With his short snout, he resembles his mother Meng Meng.