Atlanta Zoo Panda Twins Adjusting Slowly To Chinese Culture

For Atlanta-born Mei Huan and Mei Lun, life in their ancestral homeland of China is taking some getting used to.

The 3-year-old giant pandas, who were born at Zoo Atlanta and sent to China early this month as part of the zoo's agreement with the Chinese government, are being slow to give up their American lifestyles, according to China's state-run media.

The "naughty twins" refuse to eat Chinese food, like steamed cornbread, preferring the American biscuits sent with them from Atlanta, reports China's Xinhua news service.

The pair now live at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China's Sichuan province.

Chinese paper The People's Daily reports that the sisters will only respond to their handlers when they speak to them in English.

The only words they recognize in the local dialect are their names, the paper says. Meanwhile, English phrases like "come here" still get their attention.

Mei Lun and Mei Huan are the first surviving pair of giant panda twins ever born in the United States.

They are the fourth and fifth pandas born at Zoo Atlanta who have been sent to China once they were old enough.

The twins' parents, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, were born at the Chengdu Research Base. They are on indefinite loan to the Atlanta zoo.

Lun Lun and Yang Yang’s youngest offspring, a new set of female twins born September 3, will follow in their older siblings’ footsteps.

The two-month-olds, who can be seen on Zoo Atlanta's PandaCam, are expected to make their debuts at the zoo in December or January.

Like their siblings before them, they will be named in accordance with the Chinese 100-day tradition on December 12.

Photo courtesy Zoo Atlanta