Pit (Meng Xiang) uses his sharp claws to drag his fluffy round body along the thick branch that leads to the bathing pool filled with bark mulch. His brother Paule (Meng Yuan) is waiting for him, and greets him with a playful chomp into his fur – that’s how panda cubs express brotherly love! This morning, the twins took their first trip outside with mum Meng Meng (7). Everything went well, which means that from this Thursday the panda family will finally be on view to visitors.
The Zoo Berlin team has waited a long time for this moment, ever since the panda twins were born 152 days ago on 31 August 2019, weighing just 186 and 136 grams respectively. Now, the keepers are delighted to be able to present their darlings to the public. “On this special day I would particularly like to thank the Zoo’s committed team of keepers, vets and biologists,” said Zoo and Tierpark Director Dr Andreas Knieriem. “But I am also grateful to everyone else who contributed to the successful breeding of these wonderful bears here at Zoo Berlin – the first pandas ever to be born in Germany. We hope Zoo visitors will now join us in welcoming these special black-and-white Berlin bears.” The twins enjoy hanging out on their wooden climbing posts, but their favourite thing to do is play fight with one another. The two brothers have already developed very different characters:
Pit (Meng Xiang)
Laid-back, dreamy, and always ready for a nap – that’s our Pit! He may be the older of the two by a whole 48 minutes, but he has no interest in taking the lead when it comes to exploring. However, mild-mannered Pit does have another side that occasionally comes out: if the rough and tumble
with his brother gets too much, he reprimands him with a loud yelp.
Paule (Meng Yuan)
Paule is a lively little fellow known for his mischievous, inquisitive nature. For him, no rock is too high to climb and no nook too small to sniff at. Paule just loves to go exploring. With his short snout, he resembles his mother Meng Meng.
