French Zoo officials were finding it hard to contain their excitement when they realized that their pregnant panda is expecting twins.

The panda, Huan Huan is on loan to Beauval zoo in central France from China with her male partner Yuan Zi. She is expected to give birth to two cubs this weekend. It will be the first birth of a panda in France.

Earlier it was announced that the nine-year-old bear who was brought to France in 2012 after intense, high-level negotiations between Paris and Beijing, was carrying a single cub.

Officials were doubly delighted when veterinarians assisted by two Chinese panda reproduction specialists noticed the second foetus on Tuesday.

Head veterinarian Baptiste Mulot said that the caretakers of Huan Huan will place the second cub in an incubator and rotate the tiny bears every two hours with their hundred-kilo mother.

Huan Huan (meaning "happy") and Yuan Zi ("chubby") are the only giant pandas living in France. The zoo officials are leaving no stone unturned to ensure the safe birth of the pandas. If all goes well with the birth, the cubs will be returned to China within the next two to three years.