Touring pandas get better protection

CHENGDU - New regulations were issued to protect pandas loaned out for exhibitions in China, banning the collection of blood or semen, or loaning the pandas to a third party during the exhibition period.

"It is a comprehensive regulation, exclusive to the exhibition of giant pandas in China, aiming to provide more protection for the endangered animals," Zhang Shanning, an official at the State Forestry Administration, told China Daily on Monday.

He said the measures were preventive and not a response to the injury of giant pandas.