Celebrations are underway at Madrid Zoo as their giant panda twins celebrate their second birthday.

You You and Jiu Jiu woke up to a party on Friday and an iced bamboo cake. The twins have become celebrities with millions of people flocking to the zoo to see them over the past two years. They've even featured on Chinese television.

For some local visitors to the zoo, the pandas are very relatable. "I like them because they sleep all day just like me," said a female visitor on Friday. A five-year-old girl added: "They look so cute together, I love their colors."

When they were born in 2021, the twins weighed just 150 grams. Now, these two males tip the scales at around 70 kilograms each - almost as much as their mother Hua Zui Ba - and will weigh around 400 kgs by the time they're four. 

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What does a panda eat? 

‌The pandas eat a primitive diet that consists of 95 percent bamboo, as well as carrots, apples, frozen ice and some dietary supplements. In the wild, pandas feed on several varieties of bamboo that bloom at different times of the year.

For the zookeepers who look after the twins on a daily basis it's easy to tell them apart and not just because Jiu Jiu has a smaller nose. 

"It's incredible how different their personalities are despite the fact that they're twins," says Alejandro Cabrera one of the panda carers at the zoo. "But their behaviour is very different. You You spends a lot of time with his mother, he likes her attention and affection while Jiu Jiu is more independent and adventurous, not as reliant on his mother.” 

‌These two panda celebrities don't know it, but they are symbols of something much bigger - a blossoming friendship between Spain and China. This year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the pandas' birthday is yet another cause for celebration. 

Panda conservation

Beyond friendship there is a practical element to the work at Madrid Zoo, too. The twins were born in Madrid as part of a wider conservation program to try and help the panda population recover. 

‌There are only around 2,000 pandas in the wild and the fact that they reproduce so infrequently means it's difficult for the population to recover. 

‌The good news is that panda numbers are rising thanks to conservation efforts in the Chengdu 'Panda Valley' and around the world. ‌You You and Jiu Jiu will likely head to China one day and could even be reintroduced into the wild.  

"The idea is for them to go back to China," says Maria del Clo, another panda handler. "Just like the other pandas, they will likely enter the international breeding program, but it's possible that one or both of them will go to the Panda Valley for reintroduction.” 

Giant pandas were moved from the 'endangered' to 'vulnerable to extinction' status in 2016 on the International Union for Conservation of Nature list, thanks to a rise in numbers, but they still face an uncertain future. 

C‌limate change

The growth of the human population and a loss of their natural habitat because of deforestation has pushed the species into smaller and less liveable areas bereft of the different types of bamboo that form a key part of their diet.

‌If one type of bamboo is destroyed by human activity, it can leave the pandas with insufficient food during certain times of the year, increasing the risk of starvation. To combat this issue, Chinese officials have worked to protect bamboo habitat, and make sure wild pandas' seasonal food is available. 

‌But there is another threat looming. It is predicted that climate change will eliminate over 35 percent of the panda's bamboo habitat over the next 80 years. 

‌To save the pandas, humans need to save the planet. For now, You You and Jiu Jiu don't look too worried, it's time for them to enjoy their bamboo cake or maybe another nap.

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