Toronto Zoo’s baby pandas look like pandas now
Posted November 13, 2015 7:37 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The twin panda cubs born at the Toronto Zoo last month didn’t look much like pandas at first.
They were pale pink, with a covering of white fuzz.
But now those babies are just over four weeks old and they’ve got mom’s distinct black-and-white markings.
The Toronto Zoo released three videos of the cubs on Friday morning. Not only are they moving, they’re making noise – little yips and barks can be heard in one of the videos.
The two giant panda cubs were a Canadian first. Er Shun, the Zoo’s female giant panda, gave birth to her first cub at 3:31 a.m. on Oct. 13. The newborn weighed 187.7 grams. The second cub was born at 3:44 a.m., weighing 115 grams.
It may take several months to determine the cubs’ sex and they have not yet been named. There is no immediate plan to show them to the public, but the zoo has been updating its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds with photos of the cubs.
For now, they are living between their mother’s care and an incubator. The incubator, which was donated by the Hospital for Sick Children, is set up in a quarantined room next to the panda’s maternity ward. The ward is closed to the public.
Er Shun had been artificially inseminated, and her pregnancy was announced in late September.
It was the second time the zoo had tried artificial insemination. A 2014 attempt was unsuccessful.
The twins, if they survive, will live at the zoo for about two years and will likely return to China once they are weaned from Er Shun.
