Austria: Giant Panda Twins from Vienna

On Saturday I got a postcard from Austria.

It shows the Giant Panda twins Fu Feng and Fu Bao at the Tiergarten Schönbrunn. The Tiergarten Schönbrunn in Vienna was established in 1752 and is thus the oldest zoo of the World being still open. Already since 2003 the zoo is home to Giant Pandas. Due to the big breeding successes they are allowed to stay longer in Vienna than the usual ten years. When I visited the Tiergarten Schönbrunn in 2014, it was home to three Giant Pandas: Yang Yang (female), Long Hui (male) and their cub Fu Bao (male). Fu Bao (born in 2013) was already the third cub of Yang Yang and Long Hui. Fu Feng and Fu Bao are the youngest cubs of Yang Yang and Long Hui. They were born in August 2016 just four months before their father Long Hui died. 

Beside a definitive about accessories and ornaments of traditional costumes (issued 01-04-2020) a personalised stamp about Fu Feng was used. Also the postmark shows a Giant Panda. It is actually the First Day Special Postmark of the new Crypto Stamp, but in Austria these postmarks can also be used on other stamps. Interestingly also postmarks from Graz and Vienna were used.

So far the Giant Pandas of Vienna were not only shown on multiple personalised stamps but also on a nice souvenir sheet. However as they are now already so long in Vienna, the sheet is quite old. It was issued on 14th April 2003.

Thank You very much for the nice card Anita!