WASHINGTON: A rare giant panda called Mei Xiang gave birth to twin cubs at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington on Saturday, apparently surprising delighted zoo officials who had expected just one baby.

A first tiny cub — pink, hairless and only about the size of an adult mouse — was born at 5:35pm and Mei Xiang reacted by tenderly picking up the cub.

Immediately after the zoo announced the birth, the live video feed from her straw-lined enclosure appeared to have crashed, likely due to a high volume of viewers, the zoo said.

“All of us are thrilled that Mei Xiang has given birth. The cub is vulnerable at this tiny size but we know Mei is an excellent mother,” zoo director Dennis Kelly said.

Pandas are famously challenging to breed in captivity, but just when conservationists thought they had heard all the good news, the zoo tweeted just a few hours later: “We can confirm a second cub was born at 10:07. It appears healthy. #PandaStory.” The birth of the twins appeared to be a surprise because the zoo’s Twitter feed had only previously referred to the expected birth of a single cub.

The mother panda’s care team had begun preparing after they saw Mei Xiang’s water break about an hour before the first birth. They hope to carry out neonatal exams in the coming days and won’t know the cubs’ sex until a later date.

PATERNITY TEST: Mei Xiang ( “beautiful fragrance”), 17, was artificially inseminated in April with frozen semen from a male giant panda named Hui Hui that resides at the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda in Sichuan province.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2015

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