Hong Kong - A giant panda named Zing Ying is the oldest first-time panda mama on record. Even more shocking, the 19-year-old animal gave birth to naturally conceived twins!

Local authorities announced the birth of two giant panda cubs at Ocean Park Hong Kong to the world's oldest first-time panda mother on Thursday.

The female and male cubs were born after being conceived naturally by mother Ying Ying and father Le Le in March, the government in Hong Kong said in a statement.

They are the first panda twins born in Hong Kong.

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"This is a very critical period for the health of the newborn giant panda cubs," the zoo care team said in a statement.

Experts from the zoo and the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) have been monitoring Ying Ying and her cub's condition around the clock.

The mama bear, Ying Ying, turned 19 on Friday, making her the world's oldest first-time panda mother, Ocean Park said.

"This birth is a true rarity, especially considering Ying Ying is the oldest giant panda on record to have successfully given birth for the first time," Ocean Park Corporation chairman Paulo Pong explained.

The twin cubs appear healthy. The newborn male weighs 112 grams (about 4 ounces), while the slightly weaker female weighs 122 grams (about 4.2 ounces).

Naturally conceived panda cubs are a rarity in zoos because giant pandas rarely breed in captivity, and females are only fertile for a few days a year.

Ying Ying and Le Le were given to Hong Kong by Beijing in 2007. In the wild, endangered pandas are found mainly in the south-western Chinese province of Sichuan.

China has a long history of lending pandas to foreign countries, a practice known as "panda diplomacy."