Twin panda cubs delight fans with Tokyo zoo debut

Twin pandas Lei Lei, centre, and Xiao Xiao, left, with their mother Shin Shin at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo (Tokyo Zoological Park Society/AP)

Twin panda cubs have made their first public appearance at a zoo in Tokyo but only briefly for now – just for three days – due to a spike in Covid-19 cases in Japan driven by the Omicron variant.

The twins, male cub Xiao Xiao and his sister Lei Lei, which were born at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo in June, took their first steps as beaming fans held up their smartphones to film the cuddly pair as they played together.