The US National Zoo has received permission to host two young pandas from China for 10 years and may put them on display by early next year, the Washington Post reported Saturday.
The pair includes a two-and-a-half year old female, Mei Xiang and a three-and-a-half year old male Tian Tian, both born in captivity in the mountainous bamboo forests of China's Sichuan Province.
They were chosen by zoo officials on a trip to China over the summer, the paper reported.
Zoo officials hope to bring the pair to Washington as early as next month and move them into the two million dollar newly-renovated panda house that features ponds, climbing trees and water showers.
They will be kept out of sight for the first month to make sure they are healthy and allowed to adjust to their new home. But officials said since they are have lived their lives in captivity, their adjustment should be quick.
In April, the Smithsonian Institution, which runs the National Zoo, announced that it had signed an agreement with China to borrow the pandas in exchange for one million dollars per year for conservation projects.
The National Zoo was home to a pair of pandas given to the United States after president Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to Beijing. The female, Ling-Ling died of heart failure in 1992 at age 23 and the male, Hsing-Hsing, was euthanized last November at age 28 after suffering from kidney disease.
That pair had five cubs, but none lived longer than a few days.
The new pair cannot be expected to breed before age four or six, and even then pandas do not breed well in captivity. Any offspring would be the property of China.
There are only some 1,000 pandas believed still living in the wild and another 120 in zoos around the world. The new pair will bring the US population to a record seven, including two in Atlanta and a pair and cub in San Diego --WASHINGTON (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
