Vienna has plenty of rare sights, but perhaps none rarer than the two Giant Pandas found in Tiergarten Schönbrunn (the Vienna zoo). Here’s how to see them…
- A lovely bear-friendly enclosure near the main entrance
- Reopened May 14th, 2025 with a new panda pair
- Yep, pandas really do top the cute scale
- Book Vienna zoo tickets* to skip counter queues
- See also:
Where are the pandas?
(Still a rarity outside of China, Schönbrunn’s male panda He Feng; press photo © Daniel Zupanc)
Around 1900 wild bears still survive in the bamboo forests of China. A very few live outside China in zoos, with Vienna one of those exceptions.
To find our pair of monochrome wonders, make your way through the park at Schönbrunn to the zoo’s main entrance in the northwest corner of the complex. After the ticket barrier, go straight ahead down the tree-lined avenue in front of you,
To your left is a kind of visitor centre, then a long building with koala bears and, after that, the Giant Panda enclosure: a building with a large outdoor area beyond it.
The enclosure reopened to the public in mid-May, 2025 with an improved, extended layout and a new design reflecting the Chinese origins of the bears.
(The visitor part of the interior of the panda enclosure; press photo © Daniel Zupanc)
Lan Yun and He Feng (both born in 2020) are the occupants of this refurbished home, having arrived from China in April, 2025.
The previous long-serving panda pair returned to China in 2024 to spend their twilight years in their country of origin.
Incidentally, another enclosure between the polar bears and the rainforest house provides a home for pandas of a different kind: the red version.
(The female panda Lan Yun enjoying a snack; press photo © Daniel Zupanc)
The Panda backstory
Back in 2003, the Chinese government gave Yang Yang and Long Hui to the Republic of Austria. Actually, “loaned” is a better word, with the zoo participating in the international panda breeding and research project.
In the 20+ years of panda cooperation with China, Tiergarten Schönbrunn has seen the birth of the first naturally-conceived cub in Europe, organised various expert workshops, and contributed to research on a host of scientific topics (such as facial recognition and verbal development in the animals).
Yang Yang actually had several cubs, most recently twins in 2016. Like all her offspring, Fu Feng and Fu Ban found a new home back in China.
(Yang Yang with her first cub, Fu Long; press photo © Daniel Zupanc)
Unfortunately, the father of all these cubs, Long Hui, died in December 2016. His replacement, male panda Yuan Yuan, emerged for public viewing at the end of May 2019.
The arrival of the original bears was a major event for Austria and saw the outbreak of a veritable pandamania. When the panda enclosure opened to visitors for the first time, half of Vienna descended on the creatures.
The post office brought out special panda stamps, the Chancellor welcomed them in person, and they featured on TV and radio stations throughout the land.
Not that the pandas themselves seemed too bothered by the fuss. They were invariably found either sleeping or eating and viewed human proceedings with a gentle disdain.
If you do want to see the pandas, don’t worry about long queues now. Unless you visit the zoo on a hot weekend or public holiday, you should have little trouble getting a good view of them (assuming they are around and active).
The exception is, of course, if another cub appears. Because there is no magnet for zoo visitors quite like a baby panda.
Bonus fun fact
(I can’t decide if the panda is yawning or just happy or yawning *and* happy; press photo © Daniel Zupanc)
As mentioned, Schönbrunn Zoo participates in plenty of research initiatives, and one recent example involved a study of animal yawning times and its relation to brain capacity and activity (yawning cools the brain).
According to researcher Margarita Hartlieb, the giant panda yawn lasts an average of 4.28 seconds.
So now you know.
The zoo has more than just pandas, of course. Discover some of the other animal highlights there.