Feature: Superstar giant panda family in Vienna: the only pair in Europe which has bred naturally

A giant panda family lies in their garden at the Schonbrunn zoo, Vienna, eating and enjoying sunshine in spring, unknowingly attracting visitors and photographers.

Fu Bao, a male cub, weighing in around 40 kg, is the youngest son of Long Hui (father), Yang Yang (mother), and the third giant panda to be born naturally in the capital city of Austria, and also in Europe.

So far, no other European zoo has successfully managed to naturally breed giant pandas. In Europe, most pandas in captivity are bred through artificial insemination.

How the panda pair was able to achieve this historic task by giving birth to their three cubs without human intervention is still an unsolved mystery in Vienna and also a topic of discussion for local media.

Some people suggest the successful task was made possible because Vienna is the most livable city in the world, not only for humans but also for the panda species.

"We are lucky to have this couple because they like each other, they are perfect for being together, we got them from Wolong (Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan province in Southwest China) and they stayed together when they were young," the giant panda's keeper Renate Haider told Xinhua.

In 2003, according to a contract between China and Austria, the panda pair was moved to Vienna when they were two-and-a-half years old and soon became the zoo's superstars.

Haider said when the couple gave birth to the first baby panda, Fu Long, it was "a very big surprise" for people.

When Fu Bao was born, the baby panda was around 10 cm long, pink-skinned, and covered with white fluff, weighing in at around 100 grams, about as large as a chocolate bar.

"He (Fu Bao) is a big boy, he is very brave, therefore he does what he wants to do," Haider said.

"He speaks a lot. With his voice, he makes a lot of conversation, he speaks more than his brother," the keeper said, adding she could understand some of the easy dialogue of the cub.

Fu Bao's two brothers, Fu Long and Fu Hu were sent back to China when they were over two years old, an age when cubs leave their mothers in the wild. Fu Bao is also expected to be sent back to China this winter.

The pandas' diet is around 90 percent bamboo.

Looking for bamboo to feed the giant panda is not easy in Austria, Haider said. "We get the bamboo from the south of France and there is a small amount from Burgenland (an eastern Austria state)."

The giant panda has been good publicity for the zoo and many people come to visit them. In 2009 and 2010, it was voted Europe's best zoo.

It's unknown whether the couple will give birth to another cub.

Haider said, "let's wait for the next mating season next spring."

Giant pandas are a highly-endangered species. Official survey results showed that there were 1,864 giant pandas living in the wild worldwide as of the end of 2013. Endit