Society
Panda Tai Shan to meet public in SW China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-06 14:38
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 Panda Tai Shan eats bamboo in Wolong Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan province, February 23, 2010. Tai Shan is adapting well to life in his new home in southwest China's Sichuan province after returning to China. He will begin to receive visitors on March 5 after one-month quarantine. [Xinhua] |
CHENGDU - Tai Shan, a giant panda born in the United States, will greet the public on March 9 at a panda breeding base in southwest China's Sichuan province.
The 4-year-old male would conclude his one-month quarantine and debut at the the Ya'an Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base of the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, said Li Desheng, the center's deputy director.
Tai Shan, who was born in July 2005 and raised at the National Zoo of Washington DC, arrived at the center on February 5.
The panda could sit, squat or stand up under Wu's instructions, and receive health checkups without narcosis, Li said.
On March 9, it would move to his 30-square-meter new home and become neighbor of 14 giant pandas aged two to four.
Tai Shan was supposed to return to China at the age of two. The Chinese government agreed to postpone its return twice in 2007 and 2009 at the request of the National Zoo.
Tai Shan's father Tian Tian, 13, and mother Mei Xiang, 12, are due to return to China in December next year.
According to the agreements reached by Chinese and American authorities, giant pandas are only loaned to the United States for scientific studies -- such as Tai Shan's parents, and all their cubs must also be sent back to China.
Thirteen Chinese giant pandas are in four zoos in the United States.
Giant pandas, known for being sexually inactive, are among the world's most endangered animals.
About 1,600 giant pandas live in China's wild, mostly in Sichuan and the northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. Another 290 are in captive-breeding programs worldwide, mainly in China.
