Berlin: The first giant pandas born in Germany celebrated their fourth birthday Thursday as the Berlin Zoo prepares to send them to China, a journey that was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Pit and Paule, who also are known by the Chinese names Meng Xiang und Meng Yuan, have been a star attraction at the zoo since their birth in 2019.
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On Thursday, keepers presented them with an ice cake made with apples, carrots and beetroot, and a side serving of snow.
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While China for decades gifted friendly nations with its unofficial mascot as part of a policy of “panda diplomacy,″ the country now loans pandas to zoos on commercial terms.
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Pit and Paule's parents, Jiao Qing and Meng Meng, arrived in Berlin in 2017.
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Florian Sicks, the zoo's curator for mammals, said the young pandas belong to China and its Chengdu Panda Base, and officials hope the pair will travel there soon.
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“As a rule, this happens at age 2 or 3,” Sicks said. “Because of the pandemic, it was delayed a bit so that they are now celebrating their fourth birthday here, which we of course are very, very happy about.
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But at the moment, we assume that this will probably be the last birthday the two of them will celebrate here in Berlin.”
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Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are particularly welcomed.
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There are about 1,800 pandas living in the wild in China and a few hundred in captivity worldwide.
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