Canadian prime minister meets Toronto's new panda cubs

TORONTO, March 8 (UPI) -- A pair of giant panda cubs born at the Toronto Zoo in December met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and were given names in a ceremony on Monday.

Photos of the prime minister and the pandas were posted to Trudeau's Facebook page as he snuggled with the two cubs on a large red chair.

"Today I had the pleasure to unveil the names of The Toronto Zoo's panda cubs! Say hello to Jia Panpan [and] Jia Yueyue!" Trudeau wrote.

The male cub was named Jia Panpan while the female was named Jia Yueyue, meaning "Canadian Hope" and "Canadian Joy" respectively.

The Toronto Zoo asked the public to vote on the pandas' names from Feb. 8-28 as part of its "Name Our Cubs" promotion. Trudeau then revealed the names to the public at the March 7 event.

Guests at the zoo will be able to meet Jia Panpan and Jia Yueyue starting on March 12.