Giant panda Mei Xiang just gave birth to twin cubs at the National Zoo
Mei Xiang, one of two giant pandas at Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C., gave birth to twin cubs hours apart Saturday. They mark her second and third cubs in two years, following the birth of Bao Bao in August 2013.
The pandas, which are not yet named, must be reared apart, but both twins will get time with their mother, The Washington Post reports. Giant pandas have twins about half of the time, a zoo official said, but can only raise one cub at a time.
As part of an agreement with China, the cubs will be returned to their mother's home country four years after birth.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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