Surprise! Panda Actually Gave Birth to Twins

The National Zoo's blessed event yesterday has multiplied by two, with the unexpected addition of a second panda cub, reports the Washington Post. Zoo officials were still celebrating the birth of Mei Xiang's first cub yesterday at 5:34pm—with a rep crowing that the zoo was "thrilled, absolutely thrilled"—when she gave birth to a second at 10:07pm. Both cubs are believed to be healthy. One was put in an incubator and the two will be swapped between incubator and mom, in what the Post calls a special protocol for raising panda twins. Twins occur in about half of panda births; Mei Xiang gave birth to Bao Bao and a stillborn twin in 2013. More on the incredibly tricky process of breeding pandas is here. (Read more panda stories.)