France awaits impending twin panda birth

Chinese panda Huan Huan, which is on loan to France, is expecting twin cubs, according to the zoo which carried out a medical examination and revealed the results exclusively to China Daily on Tuesday. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese panda Huan Huan, which is on loan to France, is expecting twin cubs, according to the zoo which carried out a medical examination and revealed the results exclusively to China Daily on Tuesday.

With France's first lady likely to be a "godmother" to the new arrivals, a team of Chinese and French panda experts is awaiting the birth of France’s first baby panda, which is expected later this week.

The excitement follows the recent discovery that 9-year-old Huan Huan was pregnant following artificial insemination. She has been receiving intensive care from a team of experts at ZooParc de Beauval, which is located more than 200 kilometers from Paris.

"It is very difficult to know exactly when the baby (cubs) will be born," said Delphine Delord, the director of the zoo. "My colleagues told me it will be on Friday or Saturday but we are waiting. Maybe, it will be a little bit earlier or later. We still do not know exactly when."

Delord said one French expert and two from China are sleeping next to Huan Huan in preparation for the birth.

The zoo has formed a team to help with the birth that comprises at least 10 people, she said.

She said Huan Huan is off her food and has begun to lose weight, something that is normal for a panda in the final days of a pregnancy.

"Now, she only eats bamboo, and sometimes apple," said Delord.

She said her team has access to panda milk, which was brought from China.

They do not yet know the gender of the cubs.

The zoo will follow tradition and wait for China to name them.

Delord confirmed that Brigitte Macron, the nation’s first lady, will be reported shortly after the delivery and she is believed to become god mother of the cubs.

"I fell very excited because it is the first baby of Huan Huan and the first panda to be born in France. It is a very important birth. After the baby comes, we will contact the first lady," said Delord.

She said the plan calls for the cubs to remain with Huan Huan.

"If not, we can keep the baby in the incubator," she said. "And the baby will be returned to mom every two hours and every four hours in addition to us feeding the baby."

Huan Huan and Yuan Zi, which is also 9, arrived in France in 2012 but failed to hit it off as a couple and have not been successful during the panda breeding season, which only lasts for two to three days each year.

Delord said she felt proud that Huan Huan and Yuan Zi have boosted the relationship between China and France.

This year, China and Europe have intensified panda diplomacy, with pandas arriving in the Netherlands in April and in Berlin during June. Beijing has also reached agreements with Finland and Denmark for China to supply pandas to those countries.

And pandas have already settled into enclosures in Belgium, the United Kingdom, Austria, and Spain.

Xiang Chen in Brussels contributed to this story.