Adorable moment two polar bear cubs open their eyes and see their mother for the first time as she breathes on them to keep them snug

Twins are the only polar bear cubs to be born in a European zoo last year

Now their first glimpse of the world has been filmed and posted online



Birth last month was captured in colour by CCTV cameras in the enclosure

It is the first time polar bear infancy has been studied in such detail



The world has never before seen the moment a polar bear cub opens its eyes for the first time and sees its mother.. until now.

A video taken at Hellabrun Zoo in Munich, Germany, shows polar bear Giovanna tenderly cradling her two snow-white cubs in her paws, breathing on them gently to keep them warm.

As Giovanna's breath slowly wakes the month-old infants they open their eyes for what keepers believe is the first time, gazing up at her.

One of the cubs even stretches out his tiny paw to pat Giovanna on the nose.



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Mummy, wake up: A tiny polar bear cub reaches out to pat its mother on the nose in this unique footage taken at Hellabrun Zoo in Munich which shows the infants opening their eyes for the very first time yesterday

Magical: This still from Hellabrun Zoo's footage clearly shows one of the cubs opening its eyes for the first time

The video comes after another video first at Hellabrun Zoo in December, when keepers successfully filmed Giovanna giving birth to her two babies.

They were the only polar bear cubs to be born in captivity in Europe last year and, incredibly, their mother positioned herself in the direct view of CCTV cameras set up to record the moment.

Now the baby cubs' first tentative blink has been recorded on day 33 of their lives, and the footage released by Hellabrun's zoologists.

In the heartwarming video, the twins are seen sleeping in their mother's protective embrace when one begins to stir and stretch its forelegs.

The movements wakes its sibling, who bursts from beneath their sleeping mother's clasp, the commotion in turn waking Giovanna, who delicately nuzzles and sniffs the nearest cub.

It is then that the nearest cub reaches out and brushes its mother on the nose, before both open their eyes just a crack to take their first look at the world around them.



Cute: A still from an earlier video shows the infant polar bears slumbering in their mother's embrace

Inseparable: The defenceless cubs huddle together beneath their mother's foreleg in this picture

Proud parent: Giovanna nuzzles one of her babies - the only polar bear cubs born in captivity in Europe last year

Zoo director Beatrix Koehler said: 'Polar bear cubs are always blind and it takes several weeks before they can start to use their eyes.

'This time round the first view was of their mother which is exactly how it should be. It's great that we manage to capture this moment on camera.'

The zoo said that both the babies, the first polar bear babies born there for 20 years, were putting on weight quickly and being fed milk by their mother.

Mother's love: Seven-year-old polar bear mother Giovanna snuggles up with her twin cubs after they were born at Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich, Germany, on Monday, the first time such a birth has been filmed in colour

Rare moment: The tiny twins are the only polar bear cubs to be born in captivity in Europe this year and, incredibly, their mother positioned herself in the direct view of CCTV cameras set up to record the moment Giovanna gave birth to her cubs on December 9, with the first emerging at 8.39am following a short labour. Minutes earlier she had been biting her front paw to counteract the pain of contractions, before the eight-inch-long cub slid out. The infant cub was hairless, smeared in blood, blind and deaf. Less than a quarter of an hour later, following another contraction that spurred Giovanna to shake and push her back legs forcefully against the wall, a thin arm, small head and then another arm of another cub came into view. However, Giovanna was so busy with her first born that she didn't immediately realise that she'd even given birth to a second baby for another 20 minutes.

Out it comes: Giovanna gave birth to the first of the pair at 8.39am on Monday following a short labour. Minutes earlier she had been biting her front paw to counteract the pain of contractions

Giovanna licks clean her tiny baby: The infant cub was hairless, smeared in blood, blind and deaf

Spectacle: Journalists gathered at the zoo to watch as the cubs were born live on CCTV on Monday morning

The zoo’s director, Dr. Andreas Knieriem, said at the time: 'It is as if we were there live watching the labour and birth of a polar bear and, as if that weren’t enough, Giovanna showed us not one, but two very different births!'

Hellabrunn Zoo is now bracing itself for a surge in visitors. When Knut the polar bear was born in Berlin Zoo at the end of 2006 the capital's animal park was flooded by visitors keen to catch a glimpse of the cub.