Laid-back pandas ease into new home

One of the pandas munches bamboo in the new enclosure. [Photo/Agencies]

"The pandas are already very comfortable in their surroundings," said Andreas Knieriem, director of the Berlin Zoo, noting the animals' laid-back lifestyle. "As soon as they got here from the airport, they ate and drank just as they did at home."

To welcome the pandas, the zoo spent eight months creating a garden for them — 5,000 square meters that includes a pagoda, separate indoor and outdoor panda display areas, wooden bridges and special medical support areas. It's decorated with newly planted bamboo and red lanterns.

China has previously given three pandas to Germany. When 34-year-old Bao Bao died in 2012, he was the oldest male panda in the world.