Next Thursday, February 29, the five giant panda bears from the Madrid Zoo Aquarium will leave the city for China, their country of origin. In the image, you can see a member of this family who arrived in the capital 17 years ago as part of a technical cooperation project between China and Spain on Thursday, February 22, 2024, at the Madrid Zoo Aquarium, in Madrid (Spain). The return of the five giant panda bears to China marks the end of their time in Madrid, a place where another pair of these animals will come in the coming months. The mayor of Madrid, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, together with the Chinese ambassador, Yao Jing, and the CEO of Parques Unidos, Pascal Ferracci, held a farewell event for the breeding pair, Hua Zui Ba and Bing Xing, who arrived in Madrid from the giant panda cubs base in Chengdu (China). During the event, the Spanish capital renewed its institutional commitment to the Asian country for the breeding and protection of giant pandas bears, a "national treasure" of China that until not long ago was in danger of extinction. "The giant pandas bears are messengers of friendship between the Chinese and Spanish peoples and I have every conviction that, with the arrival of the new pair of pandas, this friendly relationship that has lasted more than 40 years will continue," declared the ambassador of China, Yao Jing. This new agreement between Madrid and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA, for its acronym in English) replaces the previous o
Next Thursday, February 29, the five giant panda bears from the Madrid Zoo Aquarium will leave the city for China, their country of origin. In the image, you can see a member of this family who arrived in the capital 17 years ago as part of a technical cooperation project between China and Spain on Thursday, February 22, 2024, at the Madrid Zoo Aquarium, in Madrid (Spain). The return of the five giant panda bears to China marks the end of their time in Madrid, a place where another pair of these animals will come in the coming months. The mayor of Madrid, Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida, together with the Chinese ambassador, Yao Jing, and the CEO of Parques Unidos, Pascal Ferracci, held a farewell event for the breeding pair, Hua Zui Ba and Bing Xing, who arrived in Madrid from the giant panda cubs base in Chengdu (China). During the event, the Spanish capital renewed its institutional commitment to the Asian country for the breeding and protection of giant pandas bears, a "national treasure" of China that until not long ago was in danger of extinction. "The giant pandas bears are messengers of friendship between the Chinese and Spanish peoples and I have every conviction that, with the arrival of the new pair of pandas, this friendly relationship that has lasted more than 40 years will continue," declared the ambassador of China, Yao Jing. This new agreement between Madrid and the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA, for its acronym in English) replaces the previous one, signed in 2007, and which marked the arrival in the capital of the breeding pair Hua Zui Ba and Bing Xing, from the giant panda bear breeding base in Chengdu. 17 years since then, the family has grown in the care of the Madrid Aquarium Zoo to five. Now, it is time to say goodbye to them and wait for the new couple that is to come. (Photo by Hugo Ortuño)