Three giant pandas born at Pairi Daiza will leave for China on 10 December, the zoo announced on Tuesday.
Visitors will not be able to see the animals after 11 November as they must undergo quarantine before their departure to China. However, visitors can still see pandas Hao Hao and Xing Hui, the parents of the three cubs born in Belgium who will remain at the Brugelette park for a few more years.
Tian Bao was born at Pairi Daiza in 2016, followed by twins Bao Di and Bao Mei in 2019. They will fly to the 'Giant Panda Base' in Bifengxia, Sichuan Province, on 10 December to join a research and breeding centre.
Hao Hao and Xing Hui arrived in Belgium ten years ago through a collaboration between Pairi Daiza and China. Pairi Daiza supports the establishment of a vast 27,000 square kilometre nature reserve across the Gansu, Shaanxi, and Sichuan provinces in China.
China has been working for over 30 years to protect the giant panda species, with the wild population growing from 1,200 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900 today.
