Panda Named At Vienna Zoo
Proud staff at Vienna’s zoo have given a cub its name, following an internet vote that garnered over 25,000 participants.
The cub has been called “Fu Hu”, which means Happy Tiger in Mandarin. Traditionally, keepers wait one hundred days before christening panda cubs. This is due to the very high rates of mortality amongst young pandas – as much as 40 percent, according to experts.
Fu Hu’s parents are due to leave Vienna in 2013, when they will depart for China. According to national law, all pandas are the property of the state, although they can be loaned to foreign zoos.
Vienna’s zoo is the oldest in the world. Founded in 1752, adjoining Schonbrunn Palace, the so-called Tiergarten was once a private enterprise for Austria’s imperial family. Like much of the Austrian capital, the zoo suffered from bombing raids during the 2nd World War, but it was gradually revitalized over the forthcoming years.