Two pandas born at Madrid Zoo this morning

MADRID (Agencies) Two pandas were born this morning at the Zoo in Madrid after a gestation period of 135 weeks. They are the first pandas to have been born in Spain since 1982, when Chulín was born. Hua Zui Ba or 'Coloured Mouth', gave birth to her babies, which weighed about 150 grammes each and whose sex is as yet undetermined, after artificial insemination last April 25. Mother (photo) and children are doing well but the zoo people are keeping a close eye on further developments as panda reproduction is notoriously complex and difficult. Did you know that>

• Pandas in the wild (in semi-freedom) exist only in the mountain regions of China?
• Only three European zoos have pandas on show: Berlín, Austria and Madrid?
• When born, the babies are completely blind, and their skin is pink. It takes a month to acquire theblack and white coat that distinguishes the species?
• The panda's average lifespan is about 12 years, though the oldest known one, Memei, lived to be 36 in China?