Panda twins celebrate fifth birthday at Pairi Daiza zoo

The giant panda twins at Belgium's Pairi Daiza zoo celebrated their fifth birthday on Thursday. It will be their last birthday at the zoo in Hainaut, as they will soon return to China.

Bao Di and Bao Mei were born in Belgium but will be moved to China with their older brother, Tian Bao, in the autumn. "They will return to China, but cooperation with Belgium will definitely continue," said Fei Shengchao, China's ambassador to Belgium, who attended the birthday party.

The parents of the twins, Hao Hao and Xing Hui, arrived in Belgium more than a decade ago. Shengchao described the long-standing cooperation with Belgium as "successful". He stressed that the giant panda is doing well as a species, with the wild population increasing from 1,200 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900 today.

Panda diplomacy

China's practice of sending giant pandas to other countries is sometimes called panda diplomacy. "We have never deliberately engaged in panda diplomacy," said Shengchao. "But I think the more we interact, the better we understand each other, the more trust we can build among ourselves."

As a result, Pairi Daiza will soon have just two pandas, down from five. Caretaker Robin Bouttefeux is sad to see them go, but proud of the work they have done. 

"We are sad that they are leaving," he said. "I still remember the baby pandas weighing 160 and 170g. Now we still call them 'our little ones', but they are 120kg each. We have done a good job."

For their last birthday in the park, the keepers treated the pandas to carrots, melon and a giant panda cake made of rice, corn and eggs. 

^{© BELGA PHOTO HAND OUT PAIRI DAIZA / BELGA VIDEO MAARTEN WEYNANTS}