VIENNA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The Schoenbrunn Zoo in the Austrian capital Vienna has welcomed male panda Yuan Yuan as the latest addition to its family, it said on Wednesday.
Yuan Yuan arrived from China on Tuesday evening accompanied by zoologist Eveline Dungl, vet Thomas Voracek, and his trusted Chinese carer Dong Li, who will stay in Vienna for two weeks to help with the transition.
Dungl said the trip ran smoothly, noting that Yuan Yuan ate bamboo shoots on the way, slept, and "often looked out of his enclosure curiously."
The panda was born in 1999, and will now become the new breeding partner for female Yang Yang, who is a slightly younger 18 years old.
Yuan Yuan will remain in quarantine in an indoor enclosure until the end of May, when he will be officially introduced at the zoo, while Yang Yang will be able to move freely between the indoor and outdoor enclosures. The two will not however meet one another until the mating season in the upcoming Spring.
Yang Yang first arrived at the zoo in 2003 along with male panda Long Hui, who died of a bile duct cancer in late 2016.
