Get ready for some serious cooing as two new additions to Chester Zoo have been revealed for the first time.
Twin red panda cubs were born at the Cheshire-based attraction on June 22 and now nine-weeks old, the adorable pair have been made their public debut.
The fluffy duo, one male and one female, were born to mum Nima and dad Koda who have been nurturing their brood by keeping them tucked up in their nest boxes since birth.
Following their first health check by specialists vets and zoo keepers - which included being weighed, sexed and vaccinated - the youngsters have been given the thumbs up and can continue to be cared for by mum and dad.
James Andrewes, assistant team manager at Chester Zoo, said: "These red panda twins are wonderful, important new additions to the carefully managed breeding programme for the species, which is working to increase the safety-net population in Europe as numbers in the wild continue to decline.
"Happily, both cubs are developing very well indeed and the health MOTs we've been able to perform confirmed that mum Nima is clearly doing a great job of caring for them."
James continued: "We also discovered the genders of each of the cubs - one male and one female - and returned them to their mum as soon as we'd finished giving them a quick once over.
"Nima took them straight back to her nest and it’ll be a few weeks now until the cubs start to develop the confidence to come out and explore by themselves.
"Before they're able to stand on their own feet, it is though possible that some lucky people will have the occasional glimpse of Nima carrying them from nest to nest by the scruffs of their necks."
The cubs are part of an endangered species breeding programme as they are classed by conservationists as endangered in the wild.
The red panda population has seen a decline of around 40% in the last 50 years with fewer than 10,000 surviving deforestation, poaching for their iconic red fur and the illegal wildlife trade.
