Berlin zoo's panda twins take their first public tumbles

BERLIN -- Pit and Paule, the new star attractions at Berlin's zoo, have made their first foray into the limelight, climbing and tumbling around their cub-proof indoor enclosure to the delight of the cameras.

Keepers had prepared the glass-enclosed space for the five-month-old twins' public premiere on Wednesday, removing any dangerous obstacles and filling in a water basin to prevent the endangered giant panda cubs from being injured.

Their mother, Meng Meng, kept a close eye on her cubs, pulling them down from any heights she considered too dangerous.

Zoo visitors will get a chance to see the young pandas themselves for the first time on Thursday.

The twins, whose Chinese names are Meng Xiang und Meng Yuan, were the first pandas to be born in Germany. They are on loan from China, as are their parents.

• 

  In this picture taken trough a window the young panda twins 'Meng Yuan' and 'Meng Xiang' explore their enclosure at the Berlin Zoo in Berlin, Germany, Jan. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

• 

  In this picture taken trough a window mother Meng Meng, front, eats bamboo as the young panda twins 'Meng Yuan' and 'Meng Xiang' explore their enclosure at the Berlin Zoo in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)