Two giant pandas finally arrive to their new home in Doha, Qatar, after an arduous 24-hour journey from Sichuan, China.
Thuraya and Suhail, gifted by China to Qatar ahead of the World Cup, were greeted by dozens of children carrying panda-shaped toys and waving Qatari and Chinese flags.
“This is an amazing day for Qatar today and also for China to get pandas here, this is the first time in the Middle East that we are receiving pandas. This is really also the first time after COVID-19 that pandas came again out of China. So, this is a very very special day,” said Tim Bouts, Zoological Director at Panda House.
The animals, three-year-old Thuraya and four-year-old Suhail, will be housed at the newly established Panda House in Al Khor Park.
The enclosure was built over two years, with strict specifications to ensure that the pandas have a comfortable environment.
“Really we left nothing to chance, so we have fantastic temperature control, it’s not the same the whole day round, we follow the temperatures like you have them in Sichuan in China, we look at humidity, so this building is actually world class to keep pandas,” added Bouts.
The celebratory event was attended by the Chinese Ambassador to Qatar, Zhou Jian, who tweeted earlier in the day: “Welcome to Qatar!” referring to the pandas.
The giant panda, one of the world’s most endangered species, is found in the wild only in China, where they live in nature reserves in their native mountains and bamboo forests.
China has been sending its black and white ambassadors abroad in a sign of goodwill since the 1950s as part of what is known as ‘panda diplomacy’.
