Toronto Zoo panda Er Shun gave birth to twin panda cubs early Tuesday morning, the zoo announced on Twitter.
The cubs were born at 3:31 a.m. and 3:44 a.m., and weigh 188 and 115 grams, respectively.
The zoo tweeted that staff are watching mother Er Shun and the cubs around the clock for the next few days and perhaps weeks to ensure a healthy recovery. The cubs will stay in the maternity ward area of giant panda house on the zoo’s property for a few months.
The cubs’ gender is not yet known and will not be known for several months. The cubs’ father is also not yet known.
The zoo says giant panda cubs are born about the size of a stick of butter, about 1/900th the size of their mothers.
Er Shun and male panda Da Mao arrived at the Toronto Zoo from China in 2013. They are expected to remain at the zoo until 2018, when they will move to the Calgary Zoo.
The panda cub births are the first of their kind in Canadian history.
