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Panda pair for Taiwan revealed
(Xinhua/chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2006-01-06 10:38
Two pandas play at the China
Giant Panda Research Centre in Wolong, Southwest China's Sichuan Province
in this undated photo. The pair has been chosen as a goodwill gift to the
Taiwan compatriots, the State Forestry Administration said Friday.
[Xinhua] |
The Chinese mainland unveiled Friday the two giant pandas for Taiwan
compatriots.
The panda couple, both one year old, were selected from 23 candidates raised
in the Wolong China Giant Panda Research Center in southwestern Sichuan
Province, said Cao Qingyao, spokesman of the State Forestry Administration at a
press conference in Beijing.
The pair, healthy both physically and mentally, has never suffered from any
illness since birth, and shows no abnormality in food-seeking, social and living
activities, according to the conference.
Amid worries about the couple's adaptability to the environment in
Taiwan, Cao revealed that they can best adapt to environment changes among the
candidates.
The conference also kickstarted the soliciting of the couple's names
which are required to contain two Chinese characters.
A shortlist of ten will be announced at the China Central Television Spring
Festival party which will be live broadcasted nationwide January 28, officials
said.
The final two names will be subject to the result of a public vote.
Chen Yunlin, director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of
China (CPC) Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State
Council, announced last May that the mainland would present a pair of giant
pandas to Taiwan compatriots as a symbol of peace, unity and friendship.
The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species and is found
only in China. It is estimated that 1,590 giant pandas live wild in China and
those in captivity totaled 183 in the Chinese mainland by the end of 2005.
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