New giant pandas to replace those currently living at Adelaide Zoo

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Two new giant pandas have been chosen to replace those currently living at Adelaide Zoo on loan from China. It's hoped the new pair will be able to breed as part of global conservation efforts.

Transcript

00:00It's a very exciting time here at the Adelaide Zoo today.

00:06We're celebrating Wong Wong and Fooney's birthdays, they're the giant pandas here.

00:11But it's also a very bittersweet time as Australia's getting ready to bid them farewell after quite

00:17a few years.

00:18They're going to be saying goodbye before the end of the year and welcome a new pair

00:23of pandas sometime afterwards.

00:25Zoo's SA says that two giant pandas have been selected to replace the current ones, with

00:31hopes that they will breed and maintain a really healthy conservation program.

00:36The female is Yilun, her name means idly blissful, which many giant pandas are.

00:43The male is Xingqiu, meaning autumn star.

00:47They'll be sure to draw crowds from interstate and internationally.

00:51We understand that 80% of the visitors who take part in the giant panda experience are

00:56from interstate and they're also a very important piece of the diplomatic puzzle with China.

01:03The new pandas, Yilun and Xingqiu, will stay in Adelaide for at least 10 years.

01:08The state and federal government are currently in discussions about the bill, which is between

01:13$500,000 and $1 million per year.

01:17But for panda lovers, it's really just about watching the beautiful pandas be themselves.

01:22It brings them so much joy and wonder.

01:25Alicia Ladson, who we met today, and her family, well, they travel from Victoria to Adelaide

01:30often to see the pandas, and she says she's excited to meet the new recruits and hopes

01:36that they'll successfully breed.

01:38It's a little bit sad to say goodbye to Wong Wong and Funi, but then exciting because that

01:42means we can keep coming back to see new pandas here in Adelaide.

01:45So we'll be back.

01:46Zoo's SA says it's about much more than the tourism and the economic benefits that the

01:52giant pandas bring.

01:54It's really about ensuring the conservation of this species because pandas have moved

01:59from being endangered to vulnerable, but conserving the species is front of mind.

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