A giant panda on loan from China has given birth to twin cubs weighing less than one-third of a pound

• A giant panda named Huan Huan gave birth to female twin cubs on Monday morning.
• Huan Huan is on loan to France from China, staying at the Beauval Zoo, which is located south of Paris.
• The zoo's associate director called the birth "exceptional," as the cubs are a result of breeding efforts that began in March.
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A giant panda on loan to France from China gave birth to female twin cubs early Monday morning that weighed less than a third of a pound each.

Beauval Zoo, which is located south of Paris, said in a statement on its website that Huan Huan's babies were "very bright, pink, and plump."

Delphine Delord, the zoo's associate director, told The Washington Post that the birth was "exceptional," as the cubs are a result of breeding efforts that began in March.

There are only 1,864 giant pandas living in the wild in China, according to the World Wildlife Fund, and it's difficult for the animals to reproduce naturally because females only ovulate once a year.

China has spent several years loaning giant pandas to other zoos in hopes of increasing breeding efforts.

Huan Huan and her partner, Yuan Zi, were first loaned to France from China in 2012, according to The Post.