Berlin's Panda twins return to China in style on a private plane

Two of Berlin's biggest stars were born in the city's zoological gardens in August 2019. The twin male panda cubs, Meng Xiang and Meng Yuan, quickly nicknamed 'Pit and Paule' by Berliners, will soon be heading off to Chengdu Panda Base in China as part of an agreement reached between the two countries that will see the cubs' parents remain in Berlin.

So, how do you fly two panda cubs over 7,000 kilometers back to China?

Zoo Berlin's panda curator told CGTN that while they don't have to worry about hand luggage allowances or getting stuck with the middle seat, some things are similar to human flight, albeit the very luxurious end of the market.

"They actually have their own tickets. They even have their own plane," Florian Sicks said. "This is a special plane that flies from Berlin to Chengdu just for these pandas. And they travel in comfortable, spacious boxes where they always have as much bamboo as they want at their disposal. 

"They also get looked after by a veterinarian, a colleague from the Chengdu Panda Base. So service is all-inclusive during the flight."

Around three million people visit the zoo every year. The Panda Garden was opened in 2017 by then Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and Chinese President Xi Jinping.  It is regarded as one of the finest habitats in the world.

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The twin's parents, 13-year-old male Jiao Qing and 10-year-old female Meng Meng, will stay in Berlin, and Zoo Berlin Director Andreas Knieriem hopes to build on the success of raising the twins.

"We need to plan, of course, how we can bring them here together for the next offspring," Knieriem said. "That is what we are planning because she's the best age among them and may be waiting for her oestrus time to show up. 

"Hopefully, she is crying this out for the charming boy here. All this usually happens in springtime in April or May and then we all cross our fingers."

Pit and Paule are in quarantine ahead of their journey to China, but while their stay in Germany is coming to an end, they have achieved A-list celebrity status in Berlin.

Jeroen Jacobs is the General Director of Giant Panda Global, a website for people who want to know more about pandas. He told CGTN that Germany had been waiting for these cubs.

"Berlin received their first pandas in 1980, and they had to wait almost 40 years for a baby giant panda. So I think this is something a lot of people waited for."

The boys were born in 2019, just before the Covid lockdown and the zoo, as an outside space, was one of the first places people could actually visit when restrictions eased.

"When the people had the chance to come out of their houses, they came to this beautiful zoo to see these two magnificent young pandas grow up, start climbing, start playing with their mother," Jacobs said.

"I think it brought magnificent times for many people in Berlin, in Germany and around the world in a difficult time for a lot of people."

Another panda mega fan, Jerome Pouille, said he had to come and say farewell to the bears.

"It's very important for me to see them," he said. "I was there for the naming ceremony. They were only 100 days old, so I'm happy to say goodbye before they leave Germany."

The exact date of departure is a closely guarded secret. While everyone wishes Pit and Paule all the best for their journey, the hope is that the pitter-patter of baby paws will be heard again soon in the zoo's Panda Garden.

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