Adelaide Zoo

As a conservation charity, every visit, adoption, donation and ticket helps save species from extinction

Panda and Friends

Watch giant pandas Xing Qiu and Yi Lan start their day, and red panda Ravi enjoy his morning meal. Wake up with Adelaide Zoo’s most iconic animals.

Step into the zoo before the crowds and discover a morning like no other. Panda & Friends is an intimate, morning journey through Adelaide Zoo’s most serene sanctuary, the Bamboo Forest, where awe-inspiring encounters await. Designed to connect you deeply with nature and the species we strive to protect, this experience offers a rare chance to see some of our most iconic animals in their quietest moments.

Start your adventure by watching the playful red panda, Ravi, make his way down from the treetops to enjoy his breakfast—a peaceful moment that feels worlds away from the everyday. Then, enjoy a private viewing of Australia’s only Giant Pandas, Yi Lan and Xing Qiu, as they bring in the new day to explore and play around their habitat. This playful pair are ambassadors for their species, and seeing them up close in the early morning calm is a rare privilege.

At a peaceful point during your experience, you’ll enjoy morning tea at the Fig Tree Café. Enjoy the chance to relax and take in the surroundings before or after your guided walk through the rest of the zoo. Along the way, you’ll meet more remarkable species from around the globe and discover the vital conservation work you’re helping to support just by being here.

Experience Highlights

  • Early access to the zoo before it opens to the public
  • Watch Red Panda Ravi enjoy his breakfast
  • Private viewing of Giant Pandas Yi Lan and Xing Qiu
  • Morning tea at the Fig Tree Café
  • Guided tour of other amazing animals and conservation stories
  • Private group experience

Despite their name, Red Pandas are more closely related to raccoons than their black and white counterparts. Red Pandas spend most of their time in trees eating bamboo and a variety of fruits, leaves and eggs.

Like all bear species the Giant Panda is a natural meat eater, however this unique bear has adapted to live on an almost solely vegetarian diet.

How your ticket helps our conservation efforts

The major threat facing wild pandas is habitat loss and fragmentation, due to China’s dense and growing human population. It is estimated there are 1,864 Giant Pandas and fewer than 10,000 Red Pandas left in the wild.

There are currently more than 370 Giant Pandas living in captivity, with the majority of these being in China with a small population living in a handful of zoos across the world. These insurance populations safeguard the species from unpredictable events such as fire, disease or natural disaster and help increase the animal population and ensure genetic diversity through captive breeding programs. Yi Lan and Xing Qiu are part of the international Giant Panda research, conservation and breeding program designed to preserve this vulnerable species. Adelaide Zoo is also one of the most successful institutions for breeding Red Pandas.

By participating in the Panda and Friends experience at Adelaide Zoo, you are not only supporting the incredible species in our care, you’re also helping us raise awareness and valuable funds to safeguard their wild cousins. Part of the income generated from our Animal Experiences contributes to the work Zoos SA does in support of a wide number of conservation programs both within and beyond our gates.

Want to get involved? You can help!

Adopt or donate