Tiergarten Schönbrunn , Vienna, Austria, home to Long Hui (male), Yang Yang (female).
Their offspring Fu Long (male), the first panda born in Europe in 25 years, has returned to China in November 2009 (
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Name: Long Hui
Sex: Male
DOB: December 26, 2000
Name: Yang Yang
Sex: Female
DOB: August 10, 2000
Name: Fu Long (returned to China in November 2009)
Sex: Male
DOB: August 23, 2007
Parents: Long Hui (father) and Yang Yang (mother)
Tiergarten Schönbrunn (Schönbrunn Zoo) is a zoo located on the grounds of the famous Palace in Vienna, Austria. Founded as an imperial menagerie in 1752, it is the oldest zoo in the world.
The history of Tiergarten Schönbrunn goes back to Empress Maria Theresia and her husband Franz Stephan von Lothringen (Franz I). In 1745, Franz I commissioned the architect Jean Nicholas Jadot der Ville-Issey, to design a menagerie in the park of Schönbrunn, the new Habsburg-Lothringen summer residence.
Tiergarten Schönbrunn Entrance (left); The former imperial breakfast pavillion,
nowadays a cafe and restaurant (right).
The facility consisted of 12 enclosures with equally sized animal houses. In the summer of 1752, after a one-year construction period, the animals were brought to the zoo and opened to the public. The octagonal pavilion in the center of the facility, designed as a breakfast room and salon, was only completed in 1759. Even today, this pavilion remains the zoo's historical centerpiece.
Tiergarten Schönbrunn is one of the few zoos worldwide to house giant pandas. On March 14th 2003, a young pair of Giant Pandas arrived at the zoo. Yang Yang and Long Hui were both born in 2000, in Giant Panda Research and Conservation Center in Wolong, Sichuan province. The animals are on loan to the Republic of Austria by the People's Republic of China for a period of 10 years.
Long Hui and Yang Yang playing each other during Vienna winter.
"The charismatic Pandas are the ideal ambassadors of China," said zoo director and WWF president Austria Helmut Pechlaner, who was so excited during the panda arrival in 2003.
"They come to Austria as a gesture of friendship and will not only generate interest for this vast and mysterious country, but will also promote global nature conservation for the WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). The enthusiasm that these symbolic creatures will trigger in the zoo's guests and friends will serve as a vehement reminder of all the fascinating creatures that are threatened with extinction by the human race."
Long Hui and Yang Yang enjoyed love making in Spring time at Tiergarten Schönbrunn.
On 23 August 2007 a panda cub was born at Vienna's Schönbrunn Zoo to the couple Yang Yang and Long Hui . This is the first European baby since 1982, when a panda cub was born at the Madrid Zoo by artificial insemination. The Schönbrunn's baby was however conceived by natural means, and the pregnancy lasted 127 days.
On 4 December 2007 the new panda cub was given a name called "Fu Long" from a Chinese delegation including the Chinese ambassador in Austria. His name means "happy dragon" in Chinese. Austria's foreign minister Dr. Ursula Plassnik "adopted" the baby in the name of her ministry.
Three months old baby cub Fu Long on display at Tiergarten Schönbrunn
At the same evening of Fu Long?s birth, the zookeepers spotted a second, dead baby cub on some of the video images, which was apparently stillborn.
More Information:
Schönbrunn Tiergarten-Gesellschaft m.b.H.
Maxingstraße 13b
A-1130 Wien
Tel: +43-1-877 92 94-270
Fax: +43 -1-877 96 41
Mobil: +43-664-514 79 97
E-mail: panoramabahn@zoovienna.at
Official website:
www.zoovienna.at 
