Giant pandas given a rousing welcome
Pair on 10-year loan to Adelaide Zoo from China
Adelaide : Two giant pandas from China were welcomed to Australia yesterday with gifts of bamboo and a city party before settling into their new home, a 10-hectare natural enclosure at the Adelaide Zoo.
Four-year-old male Wang Wang and 3-year-old female Fu Ni are on loan to the zoo for 10 years as part of a joint research programme, and their arrival comes amid slightly strained relations between China and Australia.
"It's a dream come true," said zoo CEO Chris West. "It's a journey ended and a journey started."
Twelve life-size panda figures lined the runway at the Adelaide airport, where the animals' flight was met by state Premier Mike Rann and other state and zoo officials holding a "Welcome" sign and branches of bamboo.
The pandas were given a police escort to the zoo, which built an A$8 million (Dh26.63 million) enclosure that includes bamboo plants and refrigerated rocks to keep them comfortable in Adelaide's hot summers. The pandas will be visible to the public behind glass when their exhibit opens December 14.
West said the pandas are expected to generate more than A$600 million for the South Australia state economy, with an anticipated 262,000 overseas visitors and 1.3 million Australians visiting Adelaide to see the animals — a bigger boost than recent visits by Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong.
