Wang wang and Funi, two giant pandas, will be on loan to South Australia's Adelaide Zoo for ten years as part of a worldwide breeding program, under agreement with Chinese conservation and wildlife associations.
Their anticipated arrival is causing great excitement throughout Australia and is also expected to spark something of an economic boom in the region.
'Panda-monium' has gripped Australia as China's national treasure, in fact two of them, are now on their way to their new home in Adelaide, the South Australian capital.
Simone Bayley was chosen to head the Adelaide zoo team caring for the pandas and has spent time in Sichuan province getting to know them.
"It already seems like we're building a nice relationship and they're already responding to my voice and doing well with training and feeding well off me so I think we'll be very good friends."
Preparations have been extensive and well thought out but there is still the element of the unknown. Huang Yan, one of two experts from the 'China Conservation and research centre' who will accompany the pandas to Australia, explains.
"This is the first time the pandas have traveled from the North to the South of the earth. We know that there are no native pandas in Australia and the climate there is opposite to ours. So the aim of this trip is to further observe this process which has never happened before. We want to know more about the panda's adaptability to the seasons and biological changes in their diet. We'll will pay close attention and carry out scientific research on those aspects."
As Wang wang and Funi will be the only pandas in the Southern Hemisphere, everyone there seems to be caught up in the excitement. Adelaide Zoo's CEO, Chris West, explains.
"There's huge public excitement in Australia. A lot of media interest and huge excitement and pride from the very large Chinese community who live in South Australia. I have to say that it's impossible to drive or walk through Adelaide without seeing lots of images of Wang wang and Funi."
Adelaide zoo has spent the past two years preparing for the arrival of the pandas including planting a bamboo plantation. Chris West elaborates.
"We have a plantation just outside Adelaide and we're growing about eight hectres worth of bamboo right now. It's well irrigated and bamboo actually grows well in SA and up in the hills around Adelaide too and we're growing seven different species of bamboo so that Wang wang and Funi, if not spoilt for choice, will have plenty of choice."
Its summer in the southern hemisphere now so the Adelaide Zoo's CEO, details what the pandas can expect from their eight million dollar state-of-the-art purpose built home.
"We're giving them lots of space and lots of shade. One of the things of course that we know is that it gets hotter and drier in the Adelaide summer than where Wang wang and Funi have come from in Sichuan province. So we've made sure that they can sit in cold water, there is cold running water in the area, we've also got refrigerated rocks they can sit on, lots of shade but of course on very hot days they can stay indoors and have some air conditioning on so they'll be cool and comfortable."
Because of the intense interest generated by the arrival of the pandas, it's believed more than $600 million dollars will be added to the South Australian economy during their ten year stay.
So, what types of businesses in Adelaide will benefit from panda tourism?
Ian Horne, SA's 'Australian Hotel Association' general manager explains.
"It's about the accommodation side of it, it's about the restaurants. People who stay over, they eat out, they buy a drink, they buy souvenirs, they do a lot of retail shopping – it's about the taxi services, the travel agents, tour guides - it's a multitude of small, medium and large businesses who benefit from the tourism dollar."
Ian also expects companies will overlook other cities throughout South East Asia and choose Adelaide so they can combine conferences with a visit to Adelaide Zoo.
"It's about saying gee if we choose Adelaide as the destination for our conference, whether it's medical or business or leisure, we also get to build into it the opportunity to go and visit these fantastic creatures called Pandas and for ten years gee it's going to be a great incentive to recognize Adelaide as something a bit different from anyone else in South East Asia."
The panda exhibit will be officially unveiled to the public in their purpose built enclosure by Australia's governor general on December 13th. |
