Zen, bamboo and native climate: how Ru Yi and Ding Ding spent their first quinquennial at Moscow Zoo
Giant pandas Ru Yi and Ding Ding are true representatives of their country, as they know how to “engage in Zen”, eat bamboo, rice and soy and love to contemplate nature. They moved from Sichuan to the Moscow Zoo five years ago, on April 29, 2019, and on June 5, after the mandatory quarantine, the Fauna of China Pavilion opened their doors to its new residents.
During this time, they got used to the capital and gave birth to little Katyusha. Their enclosures are always surrounded by crowds of visitors who come to watch the pandas’ leisurely lifestyle, while zoo staff study their habits and features as research will help more effectively conserve the vulnerable species.
Our mos.ru journalists have visited the bamboo bears, too. Read further on to learn how the animals ended up in Moscow, why they love snow, and why not all pandas like hugging.
‘Prosperity’ and ‘Raindrops’
Ru Yi met us in the outdoor enclosure of the Moscow Zoo, wandering thoughtfully along the little ladders and sometimes plunging into the reservoir, meanwhile Ding Ding and their daughter Katyusha were walking in the enclosure next door.
Before Ru Yi and Ding Ding, the Moscow Zoo had giant pandas named Ping Ping and An An, who had arrived from China in the late 1950 s. One of them was sent by the Chinese government as a gift to the Soviet Union for the 40 th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. Back then, almost no one knew how to properly keep the exotic animals, and, according to zoo staff, they were fed porridge, spruce branches and fruit drinks. Then, in 2001, Moscow welcomed Ben Ben and Wen Wen who stayed in the city for two months during the Beijing Culture Days.
The zoo had been preparing for their visit to the capital in 2019 for a total of about three years.
Moscow Zoo experts, including myself, visited China several times and also hosted a specially organized commission, which consisted of representatives from China’s Forestry and Grassland Administration, the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association, and the Chinese Center for the Research and Conservation of the Giant Panda. An important part of the preparations was the long internship that our employees underwent in China. They got to know how to deal with pandas and learned from their colleagues how to keep and breed them. 
The pandas were named by Chinese experts, Ru Yi meaning ‘prosperity’ in Chinese and Ding Ding meaning ‘raindrops’; both pandas originate from Sichuan.
In fact, the animals are not just guests in Moscow as zoo staff are engaged in scientific research together with the Chinese Center for the Research and Conservation of the Giant Panda, in particular, regularly measuring body weight, taking blood tests and observing the pandas’ behavior to further send the data to Chinese vets.
Katyusha is her mama’s girl: life of a giant panda cub in the Moscow ZooSobyanin trumpets the birth of the first-ever giant panda cub in Russia’s history
Streams and snowmen
We entered the Fauna of China Pavilion through the red gates with paper lanterns, the kind that usually lead to Buddhist temples. It is very fitting as the pandas spend most of the day “practicing Zen”. Ding Ding meditates, lying on her side, on the log bridge among bamboo branches, while little Katyusha, sitting on a high wooden platform in the corner of the spacious enclosure, is trying to reach her ear with her hind paw.
Pandas sleep 12 hours a day to save body energy. Historically, giant pandas were carnivores, eating animal foods and digesting food quickly. In the process of evolution, the peculiarities of digestion have been preserved, but now they are vegetarians. Plant food is low in nutrition, and they digest it instantly; that is why they have to eat often and recuperate during sleep. 
The pandas are fed with fresh bamboo three to four times a day, to say nothing of raw carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, and panda cakes. “We bake them ourselves from rice, corn and soybeans,” says Irina Ovchinnikova.
According to her, many are mistaken in thinking that pandas are heat-loving. In the wild, they live in Sichuan Mountains, where it never gets above 25 degrees Celsius and it rains almost 300 days a year.
“When it gets cold, pandas go down to the valley, and when it is hot they climb up to the mountain tops, thus regulating their temperature. They need 60–70 per cent humidity. That is why their enclosures are equipped with air conditioners and humidifiers, and we use a rain-like irrigation system outside. In addition, there are artificial reservoirs with clean water, like mountain streams, everywhere. In the summer heat, we do not let animals outside. And they feel great if the temperature is from zero to minus 10 degrees Celsius. They actually love fresh snow, which is thought to enrich the environment. We make snowmen for them in winter. Moscow’s climate is ideal for pandas,” says Irina Ovchinnikova.
To imitate Sichuan landscapes, zoo staff have partially lined the walls with stones and painted mountain ranges on top, with wooden structures made of solid bark-covered logs for pandas to scratch their claws.
Visitors who come non-stop do not bother the animals as pandas have poor eyesight and think that people behind the glass are something like bamboo swaying in the wind.
“Pandas love to learn new things and are very trainable. It is a game for them. Even when we take blood from a paw or do an ultrasound of the abdominal cavity, they do not resist and willingly take the poses that we suggest. But we have to carry out medical procedures through the bars to protect ourselves. After all, these are wild animals,” says the Chinese animal life expert.
The Gate of Love
Yet, the Moscow Zoo staff are in no hurry to hug pandas, although, looking at little Katyusha, this is hard to resist.
“The myth that pandas love to hug comes from China. When a female gives birth to two cubs, she accepts only one of them abandoning the other. It happens that she refuses her only child because she has a weak maternal instinct. In such cases, the cubs are placed in a kindergarten enclosure with nannies instead of their moms. Until they turn 2, baby pandas need affection and warmth, so they are hugged. But if the mother herself still continues to take care of her cub, humans should not interfere, so as not to make the wild animal a pet,” comments Irina Ovchinnikova.
Pandas live 30 to 35 years and become adults when they are 5 or 6 year old, although they are in no hurry to have offspring. The mating season for females occurs only once a year and lasts from several hours to a couple of days. If a female does not come across a male who also wants to mate at this time, the demographic issue is postponed until next spring.
For six-year-old Ru Yi and five-year-old Ding Ding, the mating was successful. Despite the fears of the Moscow Zoo staff (if a mating fails, animals can start fighting each other), they liked each other very well. “We arranged dates for them by moving the door between the enclosures; we called it the gate of love,” smiles Irina Ovchinnikova.
Four months later, in late August 2023, Ding Ding gave birth to Katyusha; Muscovites chose the name for the cub through Active Citizen voting.
“All this time, we were on duty 24/7 and did not look away from the monitors. A panda does not actually need assistance during delivery, but we did not know how strong her maternal instinct is. Just in case, we built an incubator for raising the baby without her mom. Panda cubs are born bald, blind and deaf and will die without immediate help,” she says.
Ding Ding turned out to be an ideal mother as she hugged her daughter from the very first second and kept holding her all the time. She continues to teach Katyusha, who already weighs 26 kilograms, to chew bamboo and allows her to climb logs. Ding Ding has not contacted the cub’s father yet.
10 years left
According to the agreement, when Katyusha is four years old, she will be returned to China, where they will look for a mate for her. Meanwhile, until the end of their stay in the Russian capital, Ru Yi and Ding Ding still have 10 years, though the Moscow Zoo staff hope that the agreement can be extended.
The pandas are crowd favorites, indeed. They have adapted to Russian realities, feeling themselves at home, while zoo vets are gaining new knowledge about them day after day.
“Our experts study the pandas’ behavior and physiology. The data we have obtained should help in developing programs for conservation and restoration of the population of these animals in the wild. The project for keeping and breeding pandas at the Moscow Zoo has become a striking example of a successful international cooperation in the field of nature conservation between Russia and China,” sums up Svetlana Akulova.
Sergei Sobyanin: Muscovites chose the name for the Moscow Zoo’s baby panda