Rhenen

Xing Ya and Wu Wen, the two giant pandas living in Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen, met each other for the first time "nose-to-nose" on Wednesday. They seemed to really like each other, the zoo announced on Thursday.

Now that spring has arrived, Ouwehands is preparing the two pandas for mating season. It's an exciting and stressful period, according to Ouwehands. The Wolong Giant Panda Center in China matched Xing Ya and Wu Wen based on herd-book data. "But whether the animals will really like each other, remains to be seen."

On Thursday the court in Utrecht sentenced a lifeguard and two swim teachers to 60 hours of community service. They were found guilty of death through negligence in the drowning of a 9-year-old Syrian girl shortly after a swimming lesson at 't Gastland pool in Rhenen in September 2015. Two primary school teachers were acquitted, NU.nl reports.

The Public Prosecutor demanded 120 hours of community services against three swim coaches and two teachers suspected of death through negligence in the drowning death of 9-year-old Salam. The Syrian girl drowned after a swimming lesson in t' Gastland swimming pool in September, just months after she and her family arrived in the Netherlands, AD reports.

Fans of the Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen will get their first chance to see the newly-arrived Giant Pandas beginning on Tuesday, May 30. Wu Wen and Xing Ya first arrived in the Netherlands from China on April 12, and spent the last month in quarantine, getting accustomed to their new surroundings.

While panda enthusiasts across the Netherlands celebrated the arrival of pandas Wu Wen and Xing Ya on Wednesday, Amnesty International posted a video on social media reminding people not to let the pandas make them forget about all the human rights violations in China.

Wu Wen and Xing Ya arrived at Schiphol airport on Wednesday evening. They are on loan from China and will be staying at the Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen for the next 15 years. 

Giant Pandas Wu Wen and Xing Ya are aboard KLM flight KL0892 and en route from Chengdu in China to Schiphol Airport. They are expected to arrive at the Amsterdam airport just after 7:00 p.m., Het Parool reports.

After their arrival, the pandas will be transferred to an animal hotel at the airport, which is run by KLM. There they will be received by the Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands and 40 children. A selected group will be able to catch a quick glimpse of the pandas.

Chinese giant pandas Wu Wen and Xing Ya will be coming to the Netherlands on April 12th. They will arrive at Schiphol before being transported ot the Ouwehand Zoo in Rhenen, where they will stay, NU.nl reports.

The Dutch public will still have to wait a while before being able to see the pandas. They have to spend a few weeks in quarantine after their arrival. 

The Netherlands is getting two pandas from China, and without the annual one million dollar fee. The black and white bears will soon be accommodated by the Ouwehands Zoo in Rhenen. According to Minister Bert Koenders of Foreign Affairs, this is "a sign of the special relationship between China and the Netherlands".

The Netherlands' baby twin polar bears had their first outing this Thursday.

Corporal Gijsbert Spandonk from Lage Zwaluwe, who died in May 1940, was reburied with military ceremony at the Military Field of Honor Grebberg in Rhenen yesterday.

A search for the two missing brothers, Julian and Ruben, by civilians in Zeist, led to much commotion when two crosses were found in the woods near Sparrenheuvel. The police shut off the area and searched the soil with prods but did not find a sign of the boys, who have been missing for more than a week. “The result was unfortunately negative,” said a spokesman of the police.