In June 2023 I finally made it to Zoo Madrid to tick off the final pandas in Europe – I have now visited all 9* of the European panda zoos! I can’t believe it! This was a solo trip, and actually my second solo trip to Spain as I’ve been to Barcelona before. I planned one day at the zoo on my trip and found that this was enough to see everything, including spending several hours at the panda enclosure. Zoo Madrid is one of the oldest zoos in the world, and has also had pandas since the 1970’s. Breeding has been very successful, with several cubs born to the current pair on loan to the zoo – at the time of my visit (and the time of writing) 3 of the cubs are still living there, giving the zoo a total of 5 pandas. Luckily I saw them all on my trip!
The zoo opens at 11AM and I got there shortly after opening – it was mid-week in early June, so there weren’t a huge number of visitors or tourists, and were quite a number of school groups. While they could be quite loud and meant there were a lot of people at the panda viewing spots, the groups never really stayed long, so there were still plenty of opportunities to get the best viewing spot. The zoo stays open later, until 8PM in the Summer, I didn’t stay that late as most of the animals seemed to be headed to their indoor spaces with less to see from around 6PM, so I left between 6 and 7PM and it seemed that most of the other visitors had also left by that time as well. It was a pretty hot day as well, so I took a break for lunch in the mid-afternoon around the time the pandas were all inside as well, so I didn’t miss too much of the action.
This family of pandas have lived at Zoo Madrid since 2007, and in 2018 a 5-year extension was granted. Since then there hasn’t been anything in the media about the pandas returning to China, so it could be that the pandas are due to return soon, although this may have been delayed due to the pandemic and the delayed return of a number of other pandas.
*This 9 includes Edinburgh Zoo who had pandas until December 2023, and does not include the pandas at Moscow Zoo.
Bing Xing
Bing Xing is the male panda at Zoo Madrid and I have to say he is one of the most photogenic and beautiful pandas that I have seen! He just has such a lovely look to him that is unique and makes him quite instantly identifiable. The zoo has 2 indoor and 2 outdoor enclosures for the pandas (at least that are viewable to the public), and it seemed like his time was split in 1 indoor/1 outdoor enclosure with the oldest of the cubs still living there so that they both had the opportunity to be outside (and on show). I spotted him outside in the morning/early afternoon, then inside at the end of the day. The outdoor enclosure is big in size and mostly flat with a few platforms in the middle, so it’s easy to see the panda if they’re outside. Viewing was just about the whole perimeter of the enclosure so there is plenty of space to catch a glimpse. He wasn’t too active, either eating or sleeping when I saw him, but it was Summer and hot so I don’t blame him at all for not being up and about more!
Chu Lina
Chu Lina (female) is the oldest cub still living at Zoo Madrid. She was born in 2016 and was almost 7 years old when I visited last year, as a fully grown adult now, she is likely to be heading back to China soon although there is nothing in the media regarding this. She is a super cute panda, like her dad, she got the photogenic gene! I saw Chu Lina in the indoor enclosure in the morning/early afternoon, and then she spent the mid-afternoon enjoying a huge pile of bamboo outside in the enclosure that she splits with her dad. She was really adorable and clearly knew the small group of people were aww-ing and ahh-ing over her while she ate and played up for the fans.
Hua Zui Ba, You You and Jiu Jiu
And the final 3 pandas – mum Hua Zui Ba and the youngest of her offspring, female twins You You and Jiu Jiu who were almost 2 years old when I visited and so still sharing a space with mum. They had full access to both their indoor and outdoor space at the same time. The indoor space did seem a bit small for 3 pandas, while they’re still quite small this may not be so much an issue, but once they get closer to fully grown this may not be ideal for them. The outside space is large though, and has a huge climbing structure with lot of playing options for young pandas – including a hammock which the twins seemed to love! Despite the heat, these 3 spent most of the time outside, with lots of running around and playing from the twins. It was lovely to see them still interacting with mum, although I’m sure she found it frustrating when someone was trying to steal the bamboo that she was eating, or climb on her while she was resting! Again, these 3 were very photogenic, and it was a joy to stand and watch them despite the warm weather (not used to that when panda-watching in Edinburgh).
