A six-year-old giant panda called Sixue has given birth to twin cubs at Wolong Giant Panda Wild Breeding Centre in southwest China.

The male baby was born 25 minutes after the female cub, at approximately 22:50 local time on Wednesday August 15.

Footage showed the mother panda holding both cubs in its mouth as soon as they were born.

Each panda weighed just 153 grams at birth.

In normal circumstances, a mother giant panda cannot tend both cubs at the same time, so Sixue had no alternative but to abandon her son.

The boy cub has now been taken to another research centre in the city of Ya'an for artificial nursing or fostering.

Sixue and the twins will be released into the wild in the future.