Madrid's new Chinese giant panda power couple get a royal welcome

Taylor Swift might have been filling the Santiago Bernabeu stadium with the latest in a line of blockbuster concerts, but on the other side of Madrid two young celebrities were stealing the show: Jin Xi and Zhu Yu, a new pair of Chinese giant pandas.

‌They arrived in the Spanish capital on April 29 on a private jet packed with bamboo and panda handlers from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China.

‌After spending a month in a quarantine and adaptation process, this week they were finally ready to meet the people of Madrid.

READ MORE

Türkiye's 'mad honey' aphrodisiac that can knock you flat

The reptilian professor helping to save her species

RAZOR: Can precision fishing save biodiversity in our oceans?

Spain's Queen Sofia has been involved in this exchange and conservation program for a long time, as China's Ambassador to Spain Yao Jing explained.

‌"I think the longest connection between China and Spain as that we had her majesty Queen Sofia who was here to grace this occasion," Yao said. "Indeed it was her and his majesty Juan Carlos, the King, who helped start this when they were in China in 1978 - the Chinese leaders started this kind of exchange program with the Kingdom of Spain."

‌The ambassador also talked about the importance of the pandas.

"The importance is that this is the symbol of the friendship between China and Spain, this is the symbol of our very close connection between the two peoples and the nations of the two countries."

'They're doing really well'

A Madrid Zoo veterinarian told CGTN the incoming pair had adapted well to their new surroundings: "They're doing really well, the adaptation has been perfect, they're eating a lot, they have even increased their weight so it seems that they are really happy here."

With both pandas munching happily on bamboo in the Spanish sun, it certainly seems so - but Jin Xi and Zhu Yu have a lot to live up to. 

Their predecessors Bing Xing and Hua Zui Ba had six panda cubs in their 17 years in Madrid, including star twins You You and Jiu Jiu, helping with the global conservation project to help panda numbers recover in the wild.

The new couple do have time, though - they'll be in Madrid at least 10 years, possibly longer if they breed successfully.

Chinese giant panda numbers in the wild have risen from 1,100 in the 1980s to almost 2,000 in 2023, with over 700 more pandas in zoos and protection centers around the world like the one in Madrid.

‌It's a species that has gone from 'endangered' to 'vulnerable' status.

‌For now, Jin Xi and Zhu Yu aren't too worried about contributing to the cause - they're a couple of years away from sexual maturity. And as they settled into Madrid this week, they certainly didn't look like they were in any rush.

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday