New world in South Korea for panda pair
Print Edition
A PAIR of Chinese giant pandas arrived in South Korea yesterday on a 15-year lease, marking the first time in 22 years the endangered species had arrived in South Korean territory for research purposes.
Yuan Xin, a 3-year-old male, and Hua Ni, a 2-year-old female, arrived at the Incheon International Airport on a special Korean Air flight from southwest China’s Chengdu.
The move was put on the agenda during President Xi Jinping’s visit to South Korea in July 2014 when he agreed with South Korean counterpart Park Geun-hye to cooperate in panda research. The lease was confirmed during Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Seoul last year.
China had previously loaned a pair of pandas to South Korea in 1994, but they were returned in 1998 when Seoul suffered from the Asian foreign exchange crisis.
Welcoming the pair at the airport were hundreds of journalists and officials from both countries, including Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong, South Korea’s vice environment minister Jeong Yeon-man and ruling Saenuri Party lawmaker Lee Woo-hyun.
The pandas will live in the 3,300 square meter Panda World at Everland, South Korea’s largest theme park about 40 kilometers from the capital Seoul.
Research will be conducted by Everland and the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.
Everland has installed thermostatic and humidity equipment and planted trees in Panda World which will simulate the environment in Sichuan Province.
The pair will be unveiled to the public in April after a period of adjustment to their new environment. During the transition period, they will be fed with bamboo from Sichuan.
The pair are expected to have offspring at their new home. Male pandas usually become sexually mature one year later than females.
The Chinese research center has sent 32 pandas to 12 zoos and parks in 10 countries and regions since the 1990s. The pandas have had 22 cubs overseas, but only 15 have survived. Ten of the 15 panda cubs born overseas have since returned to China.
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