Two giant pandas destined for a Dutch zoo will arrive in the Netherlands on April 12  but will not be seen by the public for some time because they will first be held in quarantine.

The pandas are heading for the Ouwehands Dierenpark zoo in Rhenen which has spent 16 year campaigning to bring pandas to the Netherlands. The zoo spent €7m on a special compound which was given official Chinese approval earlier this year.

The zoo is hoping that Wu Wen (Beautiful Powerful Cloud) and Xing Ya (Elegant Star) will be feeling sufficiently at home to produce offspring.

The cost of the new compound plus the €900,000 a year fee means that entrance tickets will be more expensive: visitors will be paying a so-called ‘panda tax’, NOS said in January.