When I made my visit to Madrid in June 2023, that checked off visiting all nine* of the panda zoos in Europe (*with the exception of Russia)! Of course, now all of that has changed – at the end of 2023 Edinburgh Zoo no longer has pandas (it was the end of the loan agreement, contrary to what many people were saying online, China were not recalling all the pandas, it was the end of loan agreements for several zoos), and in February 2024 Madrid sent their family of 5 back to China as well. At some point this year it also looks like Vienna will be sending their panda pair back too. Pairi Daiza will also be sending their 3 cubs (who are no longer cubs at all!) back this year too. However, already Madrid has a new young panda pair! And it’s been announced that there will be a new pair for Vienna too. Sooo … looks like more trips need to be planned^

After seeing all of the pandas in Europe, I ended up being in China in September 2023 and all my panda content from that trip has been posted over the last few weeks. But seeing the pandas in Edinburgh Zoo at the start of December, well that’s now been the longest gap I’ve had where I’ve not seen a panda … so what’s next?!?!

Starting next week I will be sharing about my incredible trip to see pandas in China in May 2024 – so much content to share, but before diving into the pandas (and there will be a lot with all of the recently returned pandas to see) I’ll start with travelling and staying at Shanghai Disneyland for a magical third trip^