Hong Kong welcomes the birth of its first locally born giant pandas

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong welcomed the birth of its first locally born giant pandas on Thursday, with their mother becoming the world’s oldest first-time mother of its kind on record, the theme park that houses them announced.

Ying Ying, the mother, gave birth to the twins — one male and one female — at Ocean Park just a day before she turned 19 years old, the park said in a statement.

She and her partner Le Le are the second pair of pandas gifted by China to Hong Kong since the former British colony returned to China’s rule in 1997.

Pandas are widely considered as the country’s unofficial national mascot and China’s giant panda loan program with overseas zoos has long been known as a tool of Beijing’s soft-power diplomacy.

Ocean Park said in the statement that giant pandas have a “notoriously difficult time reproducing, especially as they age” and panda pregnancy is not readily detectable.

Although Ying Ying started showing symptoms including decreased appetite, increased need for rest time and changes in hormonal levels in late July, her pregnancy was only confirmed on Sunday. On Wednesday, her care team noticed Ying Ying’s labor symptoms and her amniotic fluid broke at night. After over five hours of labor, the babies were safely delivered Thursday morning, the park said.

“Both cubs are currently very fragile and need time to stabilize, especially the female cub who has a lower body temperature, weaker cries, and lower food intake after birth,” the park said. Visitors will have to wait for a few months for their public debut.

Ocean Park Corp. chairman Paulo Pong thanked the local animal care team, as well as experts from mainland China for their partnership and assistance over the years.

“The birth is a true rarity,