Brussels
A Belgian zoo announced Friday the “extremely rare” birth of twin baby giant pandas, three years after the arrival of a young male, which was a first for Belgium at the time. The Pairi Daiza zoo said the safe delivery of the twins, one male and one female, on Thursday represented a “new hope” for the charismatic black and white bear, of which fewer than 2,000 now live in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The mother Hao Hao showed signs of going into labour on Wednesday evening and gave birth to the 160-gram male baby on Thursday afternoon, under careful monitoring by Belgian and Chinese experts, followed by the female, weighing 150 grams, two hours later. —AFP
