Whipsnade Zoo: Newborn twin red pandas 'give hope' for species

Video of one-month-old twin red pandas and their mother has been released by a zoo in Bedfordshire.

Grant Timberlake, from Whipsnade, said: "These twin cubs give us double hope for the species, as they were born as part of an important European breeding programme for endangered red pandas, designed to keep a healthy and genetically diverse back-up population safe in conservation zoos.

He added: "Red pandas hail from the Himalayan mountains of Nepal, Myanmar and India, as well as forests in Western China, where they are threatened by habitat loss, a decline in their main food source - bamboo - as well as poaching for the illegal pet, meat and medicine trade."

The cubs will not be named for another month at their first vet check-up, when the team will discover if they are male or female.