Zoo officials in the southeastern U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia have held a naming ceremony for the twin giant panda cubs born in July.
The zoo invited the public to the naming ceremony, held Wednesday in the zoo's auditorium.
The names were revealed to be Mei Lun and Mei Huan. They originate from a Chinese idiom that means "something indescribably beautiful and magnificent."
Zoo officials say they waited 100 days to announce the names as part of a Chinese tradition that grew from the fact the first 100 days of a panda's life are high risk.
The cubs were born to 15-year-old Lun Lun who was artificially inseminated in March.
The cubs are the fourth and fifth born at the zoo to Lun Lun and her partner Yang Yang.
The names were selected by staff at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China.
Under a deal between China and the U.S., giant pandas originally from China are only loaned to foreign zoos for scientific study for several years.
The zoo invited the public to the naming ceremony, held Wednesday in the zoo's auditorium.
The names were revealed to be Mei Lun and Mei Huan. They originate from a Chinese idiom that means "something indescribably beautiful and magnificent."
Zoo officials say they waited 100 days to announce the names as part of a Chinese tradition that grew from the fact the first 100 days of a panda's life are high risk.
The cubs were born to 15-year-old Lun Lun who was artificially inseminated in March.
The cubs are the fourth and fifth born at the zoo to Lun Lun and her partner Yang Yang.
The names were selected by staff at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China.
Under a deal between China and the U.S., giant pandas originally from China are only loaned to foreign zoos for scientific study for several years.
