Panda House Park in Al Khor Opens to the Public

The Ministry of Municipality stated on Tuesday that the Panda House Park in Al Khor City, around 35 kilometers from Doha, will start welcoming visitors on Thursday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The ticket has a one-day validity that starts on the day when the reservation is made. The ticket is not exchangeable. For booking tickets, click here.

Weekend hours have not been specified; therefore it is likely that the public is welcome to visit the park on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 6 pm as well.

As the first Middle Eastern nation since the 20th century to get the cuddly bears from China, two giant pandas from Beijing arrived in Qatar last month.

A few weeks before the FIFA World Cup 2022 began, the pair – a four-year-old male "Jing Jing" and a three-year-old female "Sihai", renamed "Suhail" and "Soraya" for the occasion – arrived in Qatar as a gift from China.

The Minshan Mountains in the Chinese province of Sichuan, which serve as the pandas' natural habitat, are simulated in the Panda House, which was constructed to the highest international standards.

In addition to shelter, green spaces, and service buildings, the enclosure's 120,000 square meters also include other structures. To fulfill the animals' demands at all times, a medical facility is attached to the habitat.

A multinational group of doctors and experts in the care of giant pandas will look after the pandas.

The region is where bamboo shoots are grown, which are the pandas' main source of protein. Additionally carried and put inside the shelter were trees from Chinese forests.

Chinese Ambassador to Qatar, Zhou Jian, stressed that the giant pandas' arrival marks an important turning point in relations between China and Qatar.

He added, "The giant pandas will undoubtedly strengthen the bonds of goodwill between the two nations and broaden collaboration in many areas, creating a new symbol of China-Qatar relations."

"Suhail" and "Soraya", the famous pandas, got their reputation for predicting the results of world cup matches, where they walked and chose the flags of the countries that they expect to win the matches.