The San Diego Zoo’s last giant pandas have arrived safe and sound in China, according to the China Giant Panda Conservation Research Center.
Mother and son Bai Yun, 27, and Xiao Liwu, 6, landed at 7:30 a.m. Thursday local time and entered the gate of the Qingjiangshan base of the Dujiangyan center at 1 p.m., the center in southwest Sichuan Province announced Friday.
“Veterinarian and animal care staff, who had been waiting at the airport for a long time, conducted preliminary observations on the two giant pandas,” said the center. “They confirmed that there is no serious stress reaction and both pandas were doing well.”
After a veterinary expert checked the pandas again, “the enthusiastic staff unloaded the transport cage in an orderly manner, and patiently guided the giant pandas into the isolation quarantine areas.”
At 3:30 p.m., a welcome ceremony was held, kicked off by singing and dancing of Dujiangyan children.
“They will be under quarantine for a month to help them adapt to the conditions in China,” Zou Wenyong, a spokesman for the Dujiangyan center, said in a report in The Daily Mail of Britain.
Veterinarian Deng Linhua told the paper that the panda enclosure will be thoroughly disinfected every day and caretakers will conduct health checks to make sure they are not carrying any diseases.
The San Diego Zoo began a three-week panda farewell celebration April 6 in San Diego. On April 27, the pandas ended their exhibition in the United States and entered the preparatory stage before returning to China.
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In the 23 years since the Research Center and the San Diego Zoo have carried out scientific research cooperation, the giant panda project has achieved success in the protection, breeding, behavioral ecology, disease prevention and control, and public education of the giant pandas, the center said.
“Six young cubs — including Hua Mei, Mei Sheng, Su Lin, Zhen Zhen and Yun Zi — have returned to the China Giant Panda Conservation Research Center after the expiration of the agreement,” said a statement.
Last November, Gao Gao, the San Diego Zoo’s adult male giant panda, returned to the Qinghaishan Base of Dujiangyan.
According to Zhang Zhizhong, secretary of the Party Committee of the research center, the platform has established long-term cooperative relationships with 16 zoos in 14 countries.
“Panda research and breeding, public education, and humanities exchanges have achieved fruitful results,” said the center. “With the return of the giant pandas, the Chinese giant panda conservation research center has increased its population of giant pandas to 17 in the world.”
