Tokyo zoo’s twin panda cubs make exclusive debut, as Omicron surge limits visitor numbers
- Xiao Xiao and his sister Lei Lei were born at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo in June. They took their first steps in public on Wednesday to a crowd of adoring fans
- Ueno Zoo has been closed since Tuesday and is only open for the panda exhibit, with 1,080 visitors who won slots in a lottery granted access each day
In a video released by the zoo on Wednesday, the twin cubs sit back to back on a tree playing with bamboo while visitors can be heard saying “kawaii!” (cute) in the background. Then the male cub steps on its sister to move up the tree.
“My heart thumped with excitement when I first saw them,” said Kirie Tanaka, an avid panda fan who came from the Western Japanese city of Osaka for the day.
During her turn, the cubs were pretending to eat bamboo and “that was just adorable,” said Tanaka, whose hat and bag were decorated with panda-motif ornaments. “It’s so comforting to see them.”
The twins, which were palm-sized pink creatures when they were born, now weigh as much as a toddler each and have developed black-and-white fur. They enjoy climbing trees and playing together on the wood chips on the ground, according to the zoo.
In preparation for their debut, the twins and their mother were placed in shared living quarters where they were exposed to sounds from a radio to get used to noise and voices from visitors.
