These baby pandas are only 18 days old and the fact that they're both alive right now is likely only due to the ingenuity and dedication of this zookeeper. Roughly half of all panda moms give birth to twins but usually only one of the offspring survive, as it is thought that the moms will reject one of the babies for lack of energy and resources to nurse both. But at this zoo, the mama panda is being tricked into caring for both her babies.
At least 10 times a day, this hardworking zookeeper will switch out one baby panda for the other, giving each newborn precious time with its mother to nurse. The other baby, meanwhile, will rest in an incubator and receive formula. This process, as you can imagine, takes an immense amount of trust on the mama panda's side and patience on the zookeeper's side. But in the end, if both babies are able to survive and thrive, it will all be worth it.
