Two giant pandas arrived from China in January 2012 and became immediate celebrities in France. On arrival at their new home, Zoo Parc de Beauval, Loire they were met by hordes of fans, but they took it all in their stride.
The arrival of Yuan Zi, a boy, and Huan Huan, a girl are the culmination of years of top level talks between the French and Chinese Governments and are a real coup for France where giant pandas had not been seen for more than a decade. The Zoo hopes that romance will flourish between Yuan Zi and Huan Huan who grew up together and get along very well. The greatest and most hoped for result would be the pitter patter of tiny panda feet.
The giant pandas are primarily herbivorous and almost exclusively eat a diet of bamboo, anything up to 20kg each per day and luckily for the Zoo there is a bamboo plantation nearby which will be supplying fresh food.
The Zoo’s owners, Rodolphe and Delphine Delord, spent time with the pandas in China and got to know them well saying that the pandas would “live the life of stars”.
