Spain's Madrid Zoo hosted a big birthday party for the big western pandas “Ginxi” and “Jew” on 20 days. Hundreds of tourists took part in the event and wished them a happy birthday at the age of five.
That morning, Enrique Pérez, Director of the Zoo, accompanied the Chinese Ambassador to Spain, Yao Chiu, to the panda house and attended the event with hundreds of visitors who had arrived. As soon as the male panda “Gin Hsi” became visible, people cheered. It is not shy, with lazy steps, and goes to the garden for special gifts — birthday cakes made of ice and bamboo, watermelons, pumpkins, grapes and apples — and sits down as an ass, grabs the apples above, and enjoys them.
A small tourist, Suzanne, came to the zoo to celebrate the big panda. She said, "The pandas are really cute. They always make everybody laugh when they hang on a tree or fall accidentally." Susanna had a wish to go to their hometown of China to see how the big panda lived there.
"The big panda is our favorite animal." The breeder, Reveka Ortega, said, "They are gentle, adaptable and appetiteful. We are pleased to see that they have become completely accustomed to the environment in Madrid.”
The Grand Panda Birthday was hosted by the Madrid Zoo and supported by the Chinese Embassy in Spain, the Chinese Cultural Centre in Madrid and the Chinese Tourism Office in Madrid. The gardener also held a science lecture on the theme of the panda on the same day, and an acrobat from Shenzhen performed live and distributed a panda souvenir to the children.
“The panda is a link between the two countries. It is a symbol of friendship, a symbol of solidarity.” In order to make life more comfortable for Ginger and Jules, the zoo has been dedicated to the renovation of the panda museum. "The big panda is very important to our zoo. It was even designed to mark our zoo."
He revealed that the Madrid Zoo was working with Chinese experts in the hope of the birth of the big panda baby next year. He said, "The pandas are part of the history of the Madrid Zoo, and I hope they will also build the future of the zoo."
The history of the Madrid Zoo and the Chinese panda is long-standing. In 1978, the then King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, and the Queen visited China, and the Chinese Government presented a pair of large pandas, “strength” and “saudo”. In 1982, their child, Takeuri, was born at the Madrid Zoo and became the first large panda in Europe to be born alive only by artificial insemination in a cosmopolitan setting. Since 2007, the Madrid Zoo, in cooperation with the Chengdu Large Panda Production Research Base, has succeeded in growing up six cubs, also the most productive project in Europe under the China International Cooperation for the Protection of Large Panda Research.
In February 2024, the giant panda Ice Star and the flower mouth, who had been resident in Madrid since 2007, and popular with the local population, returned to China with their three cubs. According to a cooperation agreement between China and Spain on the study of the international protection of large pandas, “Ginxi” and “Jew” took off to Madrid in April 2024 to start a 10-year residential life.