I rounded out my 13months in a row of seeing at least one panda a month by going to see the pandas in Vienna again at Schonbrunn Zoo – making my third trip on my annual pass covering a total of 5 days at the zoo. This pair is a definite favourite and it was great to finally experience Summer and warm weather in Vienna as it’s always been cold/Winter on my previous visits – Vienna and the zoo are both beautiful in the sun and I can’t wait to make more Summer visits in the future!
He Feng 荷风
He Feng 荷风 split his time fairly evenly between being outside and being inside, although I think he was preferring the cooler temperatures in his indoor space! He was very popular, especially with a big group of Chinese tourists who arrived at the zoo first thing and he was the first animal they saw and he was sitting outside eating for them^ He was just as cute and happy as always. Overall it was quite tricky to get photos of him inside because of the number of people trying to see him, but I did get a few good ones, and was especially happy to get some of him rolling around in his sawdust enrichment!
Lan Yun 兰韵
With an August visit I was worried my timing would align with Lan Yun’s 兰韵 cycle timing of staying inside, asleep and of show – I got lucky and that wasn’t the case so managed to see plenty of her across the day. She wasn’t anywhere to be seen first thing, so I thought maybe it wouldn’t be my day, but after a few hours she came out to enjoy her bamboo outside in the sun! She then spent time in the back den inside, but I spotted some enrichment waiting for her right at the glass inside, so I stood there and claimed my spot for a long time – but it was worth it because eventually she appeared and headed over to play with her sawdust and enrichment toy. So cute! That was one of the first times I’ve really had to stand my ground, elbows out, in Europe because people were being super pushy to try and get in to see her, but I didn’t wait over 30mins in that spot for nothing! It was tricky to get photos with reflections on the glass but I think I got a few that worked, alongside getting videos of the moment too. I did get to see her outside again before she settled down for an afternoon of napping.
