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A new panda era begins at Zoo, with the arrival of the new panda pair! The male Jin Xi and the female Zhu Yu have come from the breeding base in Chengdu to become the Zoo's new breeding pair of pandas and to continue with the conservation and reproduction programme in which we participate.
You can come and meet them and learn everything about this amazing species, come and live the authentic panda experience!
Jin Xi and Zhu Yu are Zoo's new pair of pandas, and we introduce them to you so you can find out more about them!
He is Zoo's new male panda, born in 2020 and has a very lively and active personality. His name in Chinese is composed of the words Jin (gold) Xi (happiness), which translates as ‘Golden Happiness’. If you come to meet him, you will also recognise him by his characteristic freckle on his face, which gives him a very unique look!
A female with a calm personality born in 2020, on the day of the Double Ninth Festival (a traditional festival that takes place on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese calendar), when the Zhu Yu plant is worn to ward off negative energy and wish for longevity. That is why it was named Zhu Yu, in the hope that it would ‘bring good fortune’.
Are you coming to discover them?
Since their arrival from the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Base, the new pair of panda bears have been in a period of adaptation and sanitary quarantine in its indoor facilities. On 30 May they were presented in their outdoor meadows on their first public outing, in the presence of H.M. Queen Sofia, together with numerous other authorities. During the event, their adaptation process during the previous weeks was explained and the importance of the panda conservation and reproduction programme and the Zoo's collaboration with the Chengdu Base for the perseverance of the species was highlighted.
With the arrival of the new panda pair, Zoo Aquarium Madrid, in collaboration with the China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA), will continue its commitment to giant panda conservation.
The panda conservation programme is of vital importance for the preservation of this species, efforts in coordination with breeding centres in China and zoological institutions around the world which, together with the work of protecting the protected areas where they live, has reduced their category of threat in the world, has made it possible to reduce its threat category in recent years, going from Endangered to Vulnerable status, from around 1100 specimens in the 1980s to 1900 in 2023, to which should be added 728 specimens from zoos and breeding centres around the world, including the 46 births that have taken place in 2023.