STORY: Spain's panda twins celebrate their second birthday at Madrid Zoo
DATELINE: Sept. 9, 2023
LENGTH: 00:01:48
LOCATION: Madrid
CATEGORY: SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the panda twins
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): MARINA DELCLAU, Madrid Zoo
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): ALEJANDRO CABRERA, Panda bear keeper at the Madrid Zoo

STORYLINE:

Madrid's Zoo Aquarium zoological park celebrated Thursday the second birthday of Spain's panda twins.

The pandas were born two years ago and were named You You (Friendship in Chinese) and Jiu Jiu (Enduring in Chinese). 

SOUNDBITE 1 (Spanish): MARINA DELCLAU, Madrid Zoo
"It's a very special day because it's the birthday of the pandas, which is an emblematic species, which for us is a source of pride to have bred them here. It is an endangered animal, so any birthday is celebrated in a big way."

The pandas received an iced cake as a gift, which was made with healthy ingredients such as bamboo, carrots, apples and grapes in blocks of ice.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Spanish): ALEJANDRO CABRERA, Panda bear keeper at the Madrid Zoo
"At the end, we became ambassadors of these animals in Spain, in collaboration with China, to be able to participate in the breeding program and thus help the conservation of the giant panda, contributing from here, our grain of sand."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Madrid.
(XHTV)