birth

Congratulations to the mother panda, Meng Meng, who has had many fruitless attempts in the past! The Berlin Zoo director, Andreas Knieriem, has announced that both the new cubs and their mother are doing well. 

After the birth of the first cub, Meng Meng gently placed her newborn on her stomach to warm it up. Shortly after, the second cub was born. 

According to DW, Knieriem has said although Meng Meng is a first time mother, she's "looking after her cubs in an exemplary manner." 

Seems like Meng Meng is a natural mother! Knieriem also added that the cubs have to, "drink every two to three hours ... and needed their mother to warm them."

Meng Meng and Jiao Qing (the cub's father) have been at the Berlin Zoo since summer 2017. The pandas are on loan from China.

Berlin's mayor, Michael Miller, had some words about the birth, "What great news! Berlin is happy about both newcomers and I congratulate Andreas Knieriem and his Zoo team."

As a finally note, it is stated that the newborn pandas will not be on public display at the zoo for the time being. 

Story via DW

Nature is magnificent!

Macaws are known as the giants of the parrot world and are informally classified into two groups: large macaws and mini macaws. Check out these amazing photos portraying the evolution on an Ara, one of the species at the large macaws group. Nature is indeed beautiful!

One lucky airline passenger ended up with eight additional carry-ons at the Tampa International Airport last week. Diane Van Atter got the surprise of a lifetime when her service dog, Eleanor "Ellie" Rigby, suddenly went into labor while they were waiting to board a Philadelphia-bound flight on Friday. Travelers and employees looked on as the two-year-old yellow lab delivered eight healthy puppies inside the airport's main terminal. Her owners reportedly knew Ellie was pregnant, but did not know how close she was to delivery. 

Boarding all passengers on this direct flight to adorable!

You're probably thinking that these pictures will be one of a cat giving birth... well, you are wrong! To show off her amazing photography skills and to let the world know she also shoots births, Elizabeth Woods- Darby, aka Barefootinthefog, captured her friends special moments with her cat...

Woods-Darby stated on her websit, "I had the sweet (and hilarious) honor of photographing the beginnings of a brand new family on Friday. This little man was adopted from Soul Dog Rescue. He is 22" long, 6 pounds 7 oz and man is he the sweetest cuddler. Thanks to Lucy Schultz for trusting me to be there to capture these special first moments[...]As a photographer and videographer, capturing birth and those raw first moments as a family, are incredibly rewarding. Although this shoot was unconventional, I've always been impacted by the beauty and raw strength of birth and adoption."

We couldn't have said it better, even if we tried! 

The post soon became a viral hit and so we just had to share! 

Paul Westover is the illustrator and mind behind these bizarre cartoons that make fun of illogical situations that arise during childbirth, but they also reveal what childbirth would be like if humans gave birth the same way animals do.