Panda Baby Bump Watch 2015 is officially over! Now we move into the next phase, Panda Cubs Watch, as Er Shun, the Toronto Zoo's beloved female Giant Panda, has given birth to twins! The buzz around Toronto over the healthy twin birth is electric and you can see it on the zoo's Facebook page as well.
The little pink bundles of joy were born on Tuesday and so far, all is well with both mother and babies.
"Er Shun is demonstrating excellent maternal instincts and began cleaning and cradling the first cub soon after its birth," the Toronto Zoo said in a statement on Tuesday, according to CTV News Toronto. "While this is wonderful news, the tiny cubs are very vulnerable at this size, so the next several hours and days will be critical to their survival."
The zoo was already aware of the twins, as previously reported by HNGN, with an ultrasound confirming their suspicion, as 8-year-old Er Shun underwent two nonsurgical artificial inseminations in May.
The newborns are about the size of guinea pigs right now, and born pink with wispy bits of white hair. Er Shun will care for the in a maternity ward area made especially for the birth, and they won't be available for public viewing until at least March.
Watch the rarely seen birth here, as the Toronto Zoo released a video of one of the births:
The Zoo also plans on "twin-swapping the cuties between an incubator and Er Shun so they have time to bond with mommy," according to Yahoo.
Three separate sperm donors contributed, including the zoo's male, Da Mao, so it is unknown at this time who the father is and if the "twins" are actually twins.
"At this time zoo staff do not know the sex of the cubs and have not confirmed which panda is the father. It may be several months before we are able to determine the sex and paternity of the cubs," the zoo official said, according to Newstalk 610.
So for now, we can just anxiously await the continuing good news on these bundles of hope and joy.
