World

Pandas make first public show in Tokyo

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-01 13:46

 

Visitors pose for pictures with female giant panda Xiannu, named Shin Shin in Japan, eating bamboo in the background at Ueno Zoological Park in Tokyo April 1, 2011, on the first day its appearance with a fellow male panda, Bili, named Ri Ri in Japan, to the public. Xiannu and Bili, both five years old, who arrived from China's Sichuan province in February, were shown to the public at Ueno on Friday, marking the first viewing of pandas in Japan in three years. The appearance of the two giant pandas coincides with the reopening of the zoo from a temporary closure, following the massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan. [Photo/Agencies]

A girl holds a panda plush toy as she joins a crowd of people waiting for the opening of Ueno Zoological Park in Tokyo April 1, 2011.[Photo/Agencies]

TOKYO - Japanese people flocked to the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo where a pair of China's giant pandas now living at the zoo made their first public show in the country on Friday.

They attracted about 8,000 visitors 70 minutes after the zoo opened, the zoo said. The pair, "Xian Nu" and "Bi Li", survived the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami disaster.

An official of the zoo Hidetoshi Kurotori told Xinhua that due to the earthquake, the debut of the two giant pandas, which was due on March 22, had been postponed. He expected the pair to inject some happiness and energy into the Japanese society which had been overwhelmed by sorrow following the disaster.

A visitor surnamed Kitano who toured the zoo with his two granddaughters said that he hoped the children in the quake-hit areas could also pay a visit to the giant pandas.

The pair are both 5-year old. Pandas born in captivity can live up to 25 years. They arrived at the Ueno Zoo on February 21 for a 10- year stay under a joint research agreement on the endangered species. Their Japanese names were "Shin Shin" and "Ri Ri" respectively.

Xian Nu also survived the 8.1-magnitude Sichuan earthquake on May 12, 2008. Xian Nu was sent to join Bi Li at a zoo in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou in June that year as the quake damaged most of pandas' habitat in Wolong.

Kurotori said Xian Nu is in rut and the zoo is trying to pair them.