Panda Twins Born At The National Zoo In Washington, D.C.

Mei Xiang, a 17-year-old giant panda, gave birth to a cub Saturday afternoon. An unexpected second cub was born Saturday night.

Mei Xiang, a 17-year-old giant panda at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., gave birth to two cubs Saturday.

Jacquelyn Martin / AP

The first panda cub was born at 5:35 p.m. The cub remained with its mother after birth and appeared to be healthy.

Less then five hours later, at 10:07 p.m., Mei Xiang gave birth to a second cub.

After the second birth, one of the cubs was placed in an incubator, per official protocol, Zoo spokesperson Devin Murphy told BuzzFeed News. The cubs will trade off, spending some time with Mei Xiang and some time in the incubator, which should give them both a chance to nurse and increase their odds of survival.

Zoo officials had not been expecting the second cub.

"The mood is one of surprise," Murphy said.

Smithsonian's National Zoo

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