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Berlin Zoo hoping for more German-born giant pandas as scan confirms pregnancy

The zoo said that recent ultrasound scans showed Meng Meng was expecting two cubs.

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Female panda Meng Meng, who is pregnant with twins, sits in her enclosure at Berlin Zoo

Berlin Zoo has announced that Meng Meng the panda is pregnant again, months after the first giant pandas born in Germany were sent to China.

The zoo said on Tuesday that ultrasound scans over the weekend showed Meng Meng was expecting two cubs.

They still have plenty of growing to do but the zoo expects the birth at the end of August, if all goes well, it said.

Meng Meng the panda eats bamboo in her enclosure at Berlin Zoo
Meng Meng was artificially inseminated in March (Michael Sohn/AP)

Meng Meng and male panda Jiao Qing arrived in Berlin in 2017.

In August 2019, Meng Meng gave birth to Pit and Paule, also known by the Chinese names Meng Xiang und Meng Yuan, the first giant pandas born in Germany.

The twins were a star attraction in Berlin, but were flown to China in December — a trip that was contractually agreed from the start but delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

China gifted friendly nations its unofficial mascot for decades as part of a “panda diplomacy” policy. The country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms.

Panda bear cubs Meng Xiang (nickname Pit), right, and Meng Yuan (nickname Paule), left, climb in their enclosure at Berlin Zoo
Panda bear cubs Pit, right, and Paule, left, were born in August 2019 (Michael Sohn/AP)

Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are particularly welcomed.

There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide.

Meng Meng was artificially inseminated in March. The zoo noted that female pandas were only capable of reproducing for about 72 hours per year.

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