Posted:2007-9-11|Source:internet|No. of Views:
After completing a two-day journey from China, giant pandas Bing Xing and Hua Zuiba have arrived in Spain.
The pair, who will live in Madrid Zoo for the next 10 years, are part of the Giant Panda International Conservation Cooperation Project between Spain and China.
Prior to their arrival the two pandas had a one-night layover in Shanghai before travelling for 14-hours aboard a TNT Boeing 747 freighter.
Since the transportation of live animals is a complex operation, according to Madrid Zoo officials, the pandas also travelled with round-the-clock veterinary supervision.
"Because TNT ensured that the pandas' strict living conditions were met throughout the entire journey from Chengdu to Madrid, this complex logistical operation was a success." said Pedro Dom¨ªnguez, special services manager at TNT Spain.
"TNT took a number of measures to ensure a comfortable ride for the pandas among which ensuring an optimal temperature of about 20 degrees Celsius throughout the journey, direct access for veterinarians during the entire transportation and close-circuit cameras installed to ensure the pandas well-being."
After completing their journey, the two pandas arrived in Madrid at around 14:40 CET on September 9.
After they have acclimatised to the local environment, 7-year-old male giant panda Bing Xing and 4-year-old female giant panda Hua Zuiba are expected to receive a royal welcome in late September.
Currently, the panda bears are in danger of complete extinction. Only 1,600 Panda bears are still living in freedom in China and 140 in different zoos.
The latter are the result of a special program that studies the reproduction in captivity of these animals in order to avoid their extinction.
The Chinese Government supports these programs within China, since historically China has been the only country where reproduction in captivity has been successful.
Nowadays, only seven countries have received pandas and of those only four succeeded in reproducing them in captivity, among which the Madrid Zoo.
