Kylian Mbappe: French footballer becomes godfather to baby pandas

It was a big day for two baby pandas at a zoo in France, not only did French superstar footballer Kylian Mbappé reveal their names but he also became their godfather!

At a special naming ceremony at Beauval Zoo, the PSG striker was joined by Chinese Olympic diving gold medallist Zhang Jiaqi, who will also act as godmother for the two cubs.

“Their involvement shines a light on the protection of threatened species and on the environment,” said zoo director Delphine Delord.

Mbappé and Jiaqi’s role as godparents is mainly to create publicity and awareness for the species.

Today, only 2000 pandas remain in the wild, although the animals were removed from the red list of endangered species five years ago, in 2016.

The cubs are the children of pandas Yuan Zi and Huan Huan who were loaned to France from China as part of a conservation effort ten years ago.

Female panda, Huan Huan, gave birth on 2 August to the two small girl cubs, who were temporarily named “Cotton Flower” and “Little Snow”.

Giant pandas belong to China, and traditionally the country chooses a name for the animals when they are in captivity.

But for the first time, the names were decided in a different way. China came up with five options and Beauval Zoo then invited people to pick their favourite names for the twins.

Over 122,000 people voted online and the zoo held the naming ceremony on Thursday – 100 days after their birth.

Jiaqi revealed one panda will be named Huanlili, before Mbappé revealed the name of her sister, which is Yuandudu.

Explaining the meaning of this first name Zhang Jiaqi said: “The first syllable comes from the name of the mother of the twins Huan Huan, and the last ones come from the pronunciation of the city of Paris in Chinese. This name symbolises France-Chinese friendship.”

After Mbappé revealed the name of the second twin Yuandudu, the French forward said he was pleased to be godfather for the pandas: “It’s a great pride, just to see them is an honour.

“In addition, I am accompanied by a great champion (Zhang Jiaqi), it is a great moment.”

 

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