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US National Zoo Courts Two New Giant Pandas
Washington's National Zoo has spruced up its Panda House in the expectation of the arrival of two new giant pandas from China, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, according to the Washington Post Saturday.
Mei Xiang, a two-year-old female whose name means "beautiful fragrance," and Tian Tian, whose name translates to "more and more" and who turns three in a week, currently live in western China's Wolong reserve.
The Chinese government already has approved a plan to lend two giant pandas -- one male and one female -- to the US national zoo.
The bear couple, both born in captivity, would be sent to the US Smithsonian Institution's Zoo before they reach mating age, the Chinese embassy said in a statement released in May.
The next step is the approval by the US Fish and Wildlife Service of the zoo's import permit application, after which a team of experts from the zoo would travel to China to help escort the pandas to the United States.
According to a letter of intent, the pandas would come to the US zoo and stay for 10 years, in exchange for 10 million dollars paid to the Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association in support of its panda conservation efforts, zoo officials said at the time.
The Panda House, revamped at a cost of three million dollars, includes three indoor enclosures with rocks and pools, two outdoor enclosures with shade trees and large rocks for climbing, and shallow caves as a haven from the heat, the Post reported.
The US government said in late November it was prepared to help the Washington zoo acquire a new pair of Chinese pandas.
Pandas exist in the wild only in China, where their population has dwindled to some 1,000 individuals due to the loss of bamboo forests.
Another 100 pandas live in various zoos around the world. The zoo in the southeastern city of Atlanta recently received two giant pandas from China, also on a 10-year, 10-million dollar loan.
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