Double Bundle of Fur

Given the level of hysteria the country finds itself in when a single ball of fluff is born, excited polar bear fans are likely to be in need of heavy sedation when the two new furry money-spinners finally make their first public appearance.

However, calming pharmaceuticals may be required sooner rather than later as the level of expectation is likely to rise exponentially before mother Vera allows her progeny to roll around in the limelight sometime after a three-to-four month settling-in period.

Vera is an old hand at rearing child stars. Her first cub Flocke even managed to eclipse Berlin's mega-bear Knut when she arrived on the celebrity animal circuit. But despite having already produced one superstar, experts at the park are still concerned as Vera lost the plot soon after Flocke was born and went through a phase of acting weirdly and dropping the cub from a great height.

Keepers alert after Vera-Vilma incidents

Park officials have been on alert ever since the cubs were born after having to deal not only with Vera's post-natal depression but also the murderous tendencies of another of the park's female bears, Vilma the Baby Eater.

Vilma was accused of infanticide and eating her babies in January of this year. Flocke was later re-housed in the "Cave of Death," the scene of the grisly cub murders, just a month after Vilma had been re-located to a secure enclosure.

All this unsavory behavior did little to damage the high profile nature of polar bears in Germany and the twins are likely to be the subject of intense adoration until they get fat and old and start looking like every other boring old bear in the park.