A cake of fruits and bamboo is prepared to celebrate the second birthday of panda twins Jiu Jiu and You You at Madrid Zoo Aquarium, Madrid, Spain, September 7, 2023. /CFP
A panda family of five left Spain's Madrid Zoo Aquarium for China's southwest Sichuan Province on Thursday.
Panda couple Bing Xing and Hua Zui Ba, accompanied by their three Madrid-born cubs Chulina, You You and Jiu Jiu, will reside in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding when they arrive.
Bing Xing and Hua Zui Ba arrived in Madrid in 2007 from Chengdu and have since given birth to six cubs. Their three older cubs, born in 2010 and 2013, have already returned to China. Of the three younger cubs, Chulina was born in 2016, and a pair of twins, You You and Jiu Jiu, were born in 2021.
The giant panda twins You You and Jiu Jiu with their mother Hua Zui Ba at Madrid Zoo Aquarium, Madrid, Spain, September 7, 2023. /CFP
Giant panda Bing Xing eats a pumpkin with honey and apples to celebrate Halloween at Madrid Zoo Aquarium, Madrid, Spain, October 26, 2023. /CFP
Madrid Zoo Aquarium will expect a younger panda couple from China in the coming months, following the renewal of its agreement for giant panda protection with the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
The zoo received the first pair of pandas from China in 1978. Four years later, Chu Lin was born, the first panda cub born in captivity in Europe.