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Your morning adorable: Madrid Zoo’s giant panda twins entertain a royal visitor

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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Twin giant panda cubs born at the Madrid Zoo in September had a high-profile visitor -- Spain’s Queen Sofia -- on Friday.

Queen Sofia held the cubs and even tried her hand at bottle-feeding them.

The cubs, both males, now have their eyes open and are able to turn their heads and crawl, though they’re not very steady yet.

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They’re the first offspring for their mother Hua Zui Ba, who, with partner Bing Xing, arrived in Madrid on a 10-year loan from China in 2007. When the two failed to procreate on their own, their cubs were conceived through artificial insemination. They’re the first set of giant panda twins conceived using the method outside of China.

See more photos of Queen Sofia’s visit to the panda nursery after the jump!

RELATED PANDA CUB PHOTOS:
Your morning adorable: Madrid Zoo’s giant panda twins are growing
Your morning adorable: San Diego Zoo’s giant panda cub, Yun Zi, debuts to the public

-- Lindsay Barnett

1st-3rd photos, 5th-7th photos: Susana Vera / Reuters

4th photo: Emilio Naranjo / European Pressphoto Agency

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