Pandas have a long history at Berlin Zoo, however the newest Pandas have been there since 2017. This is my third trip to Berlin, so I know the zoo fairly well – I had hoped this time around that the twins, born in September 2019 just before I was last there on a work trip, would be on show, but I was a couple of weeks early to see them! A perfect reason for another trip in the near future. The panda enclosure is pretty central in the Zoo and was newly built for the pandas. The indoor spaces for the pandas are completely glass, so you can see them completely, unless they are off show. On all occasions when I have visited Berlin Zoo there has always been at least one panda on show, so I wonder if there might not be the choice to be off show during the day. The entrance to the main viewing area is pretty cool and really stands out. The space is designed with green structural supports, similar to bamboo, which is also grown in the public space, and also red Chinese style lanterns.
There are a few screens around the viewing space playing videos, in January these were looped on clips of the twins from their birth until the present time. There were also a lot of different information boards with a range of topics such as their native wild habitat in China, their anatomy and bamboo. The signs were in both German and English, which is a plus! There are outdoor enclosure viewing points in this main area, however there are additional viewing points for each of the male and female enclosures around the edge too.
JIAO QING
Jiao Qing is the male panda at Berlin Zoo who is currently 10 years old. I’ve seen him on every visit to Berlin Zoo – he is mostly eating bamboo whenever I’ve been there! I’ve seen him make good use of both the indoor and outdoor spaces. The outdoor enclosure really is very nice, with a lot of coverage and planting, along with rocky areas and also water. There are also platforms at different heights, and these are in prime position for the outdoor viewing areas. I’ve seen him eating both outside and inside, it’s definitely a better view outside, the viewing window to his indoor enclosure does make for limited space when there are more than 10 or 15 people.
In my experience, he has been outside and more active in the morning. On my visit in January this year I arrived around 30 minutes after opening time, there were only a few other people at the pandas, and Jiao Qing was walking all over his outdoor enclosure. Around 2pm or so, he was eating inside and there were a large number of visitors – there was still enough opportunity to see him, but just had to wait a little while.
When I visited in early January 2020, the new panda cubs, Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan, born in 2019 were not on show yet with panda mamma Meng Meng – they have since been allowed out, and Zoo Berlin is great at sharing many photos and videos of the trio on their social media pages, so be sure to check those out!