A timid celebration, but a year is worth celebrating!

The Beauval zoo panda twins, Huanlili and Yuandudu, celebrated their first birthday on Tuesday, August 2 – the equivalent of three years in human age – in front of a crowd who made the special trip to Saint-Aignan.

After watching her cake for a few minutes, Huanlili finally decided to come closer to the delight of the many visitors, sometimes dressed as pandas.

But the little female immediately went back to see her sister Yuandudu, who had stayed away. 

Attracted by the healers, Huanlili ended up tasting her bamboo and mint cake.

Unconvinced by his lick, she went back to her sister, marking the end of that first birthday party.

Not enough to dampen the enthusiasm of Béatrice, who came from Marseille with her daughter.

"We came specially. We still managed to see the binoculars through people's cameras. It's magnificent. It's worth the trip," she smiled.

#Huanlili #zoobeauval 🐼 pic.twitter.com/p80MNAGkNZ

— ZooParc de Beauval (@zoobeauval) August 2, 2022

Raised on tiptoe, Catherine tried to take pictures.

"It's great even if we can't see them too much. We'll come back during the day because we came for the birthday of my granddaughter, who was born the same day as the pandas", explained the grandmother from Falaise (Calvados).

>> See also: the secrets of Beauval Zoo

All smiles among the some 300 people gathered in front of the enclosure, the director of the zoo Rodolphe Delord lived "an exceptional moment". 

"Since 2012 and the arrival of the pandas, we have experienced a lot of them. (...) They are doing wonderfully. They weigh 24 and 29 kilos. We have managed to breed both, and that is extraordinary" , he welcomed.

The sisters weighed 150 grams at birth.

#Huanlili #zoobeauval 🐼 pic.twitter.com/p80MNAGkNZ

— ZooParc de Beauval (@zoobeauval) August 2, 2022

"Visitors were there from 7 a.m. to be the first to see the pandas. We hope to raise public awareness of nature protection. For children, it is often the first trip to the wild world," said the leader. .

The parents, Yuan Zi and Huan Huan, had been loaned for ten years to France in 2012. Their lease had been extended until 2024 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Beauval "hopes" to continue to host the two plantigrades after 2024.

With AFP

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