Berlin's New Panda Twins Have Been Named

Giant panda twin sisters, Leni and Lotti are presented during their name-giving ceremony in an enclosure at the Zoo in Berlin, Germany, December 6, 2024. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Giant panda twin sisters, Leni and Lotti are presented during their name-giving ceremony in an enclosure at the Zoo in Berlin, Germany, December 6, 2024. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
TT
20

Berlin's New Panda Twins Have Been Named

Giant panda twin sisters, Leni and Lotti are presented during their name-giving ceremony in an enclosure at the Zoo in Berlin, Germany, December 6, 2024. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Giant panda twin sisters, Leni and Lotti are presented during their name-giving ceremony in an enclosure at the Zoo in Berlin, Germany, December 6, 2024. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Germany's new panda twins now have names — or rather, two names apiece.
The two female cubs, born at the Berlin Zoo on Aug. 22, were introduced Friday as Meng Hao and Meng Tian ("beautiful dreams" and “sweet dreams”). Alternatively, they also answer to the very Berlin names of Leni and Lotti — tributes to Berlin native Marlene Dietrich and the German capital's Charlottenburg district, The Associated Press reported.
The pair, who lay on their bellies on a mattress and peered at photographers as the Chinese ambassador to Germany and Berlin's mayor unveiled their names, are the second pair of giant pandas born in Germany.
The first were their elder brothers Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan, who became far better known by the German names Pit and Paule. The cubs were born in August 2019 and were a star attraction in Berlin until they were flown to China nearly a year ago — a trip that was contractually agreed from the start but delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
All are the offspring of mother Meng Meng and father Jiao Qing, who arrived in Berlin in 2017.
Zoo director Andreas Knieriem said the youngsters are growing fast, putting on nearly 100 grams (3.5 ounces) per day and now weighing in at almost 6 kilos (13.2 pounds) each.
Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are particularly welcomed. There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide.
Meng Meng was artificially inseminated in March. Female pandas are fertile only for a few days per year at most.
China gifted friendly nations with its unofficial mascot for decades as part of a “panda diplomacy″ policy. The country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms.



Europe's Oldest Lake Settlement Uncovered in Albania

A drone view shows archaeologists diving in the lake of Ohrid to uncover objects, in the village of Lin, Albania, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Fatos Bytyci
A drone view shows archaeologists diving in the lake of Ohrid to uncover objects, in the village of Lin, Albania, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Fatos Bytyci
TT
20

Europe's Oldest Lake Settlement Uncovered in Albania

A drone view shows archaeologists diving in the lake of Ohrid to uncover objects, in the village of Lin, Albania, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Fatos Bytyci
A drone view shows archaeologists diving in the lake of Ohrid to uncover objects, in the village of Lin, Albania, July 10, 2025. REUTERS/Fatos Bytyci

Archaeologists working on the shores of Ohrid Lake in Albania are convinced they have uncovered the oldest human settlement built on a European lake, finding evidence of an organized hunting and farming community living up to 8,000 years ago. The team, from Switzerland and Albania, spends hours each day about three meters (9.8 feet) underwater, painstakingly retrieving wooden stilts that supported houses.

The are also collecting bones of domesticated and wild animals, copper objects and ceramics, featuring detailed carvings.

Albert Hafner, from the University of Bern, said similar settlements have been found in Alpine and Mediterranean regions, but the settlements in the village of Lin are half a millennium older, dating back between 6,000 and 8,000 years.

"Because it is under water, the organic material is well-preserved and this allows us to find out what these people have been eating, what they have been planting," Hafner said.

Multiple studies show that Lake Ohrid, shared by North Macedonia and Albania, is the oldest lake in Europe, at over one million years.

The age of the findings is determined through radiocarbon dating and dendrochronology, which measures annual growth rings in trees. More than one thousand wood samples have been collected from the site, which may have hosted several hundred people.

It is believed to cover around six hectares, but so far, only about 1% has been excavated after six years of work.

Hafner said findings show that people who lived on the lake helped to spread agriculture and livestock to other parts of Europe.

"They were still doing hunting and collecting things but the stable income for the nutrition was coming from the agriculture," he said.

Albanian archaeologist Adrian Anastasi said it could take decades to fully explore the area.

"(By) the way they had lived, eaten, hunted, fished and by the way the architecture was used to build their settlement we can say they were very smart for that time," Anastasi said.