Chinese Panda Pair to Arrive in Thailand Next Year

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 21, 2002

Chinese Panda Pair to Arrive in Thailand Next Year

"The panda is a symbol of China, so sending pandas to Thailand has a very significant meaning," said Loetrat Rattanawanit, secretary of the Zoological Parks Organisation (ZPO) board. Thailand will be the fifth country to receive pandas from China, following Japan, Mexico, Germany and the United States. This pair will be the nineteenth and twentieth pandas sent outside their home country.

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"The panda is a symbol of China, so sending pandas to Thailand has a very significant meaning," said Loetrat Rattanawanit, secretary of the Zoological Parks Organisation (ZPO) board.

"It demonstrates the state of relations between our two countries. China is giving the pandas to us because Thailand is China's friend," he said.

Thailand will have to pay around 300,000 dollars a year for the privilege of looking after the endangered animals, but the money will be raised from the private sector, Loetrat said.

Chinese officials are to visit Thailand next month to ensure preparations for the pandas' arrival are progressing smoothly. If all goes well, the animals are expected to arrive next year, Loetrat said.

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The ZPO will construct a 0.4 hectare (one acre) enclosure in the town's zoo for the pandas at a cost of around 59 million baht (1.4 million dollars).

China first indicated that it would be willing to give Thailand the pandas in October last year, citing close ties between the countries.

There are around 1,000 pandas left in China, of which 142 are in zoos.

Thailand will be the fifth country to receive pandas from China, following Japan, Mexico, Germany and the United States. This pair will be the nineteenth and twentieth pandas sent outside their home country.

Giant Panda

Found only in China -- one of the world's fastest growing and most populated regions -- the giant panda clings to survival. As few as 1,000 of the black and white bear-like animals remain in the wild, all of which are confined to the mountainous bamboo forests of southwestern China.

Physical Characteristics:

Pandas are robust, bear-like animals with a distinctive black and white coat. They have a head and body length of 120 to 150 cm, and weigh between 85 and 110 kg. Specialized physical features include broad, flat molars, modified for crushing, and an enlarged wrist bone functioning as an opposable thumb - both adaptations for eating bamboo stems.

Population & Distribution:

Fossil evidence has demonstrated that the giant panda was once widespread in southern and eastern China and in neighboring Myanmar and North Vietnam. Today however, according to the last panda census in the mid-1980's, there may be as few as 1,000 giant pandas occupying about 13,000 km2 of habitat scattered across six mountain ranges in southwestern China.

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