CHENGDU, Dec. 12 (Chinese media) -- The pair of giant pandas
offered by the Chinese mainland to Taiwan are in good health and ready to depart
for the island at any time, officials said here Friday.
Two staff, a feeder and a veterinarian, from the Wolong Nature Reserve in southwestern Sichuan Province will accompany Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names said together mean "unite," to Taiwan, Deputy Director of the China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center Li Desheng told Chinese media.
A pair of pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan eat at a panda breeding center in Ya'an, southwest China's Sichuan Province Dec. 11, 2008.The pair of giant pandas offered by the Chinese mainland to Taiwan are in good health and ready to depart for the island at any time, officials said Friday.
(Chinese media Photo)
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Li didn't disclose the departure date, but the State
Council Taiwan Affairs Office said earlier that the pandas are likely to arrive
on the island in December.
The Taipei city zoo, which will house the two pandas,
said last month that it expected the panda pair to arrive in mid-December so
that they'd be ready for public display around the Lunar New Year after a
one-month quarantine. The holiday falls on Jan. 26.
Li said the two staff selected to accompany Tuan Tuan
and Yuan Yuan had worked at the reserve for many years and were "very
experienced."
Li added: "They will cooperate with colleagues in
Taipei to help the pandas adapt to their new life."
The two staff will bring a week's worth of the
pandas' favorite food, such as steamed corn buns and fresh bamboo, Li said.
Other necessities include medicines like motion-sickness pills.
The mainland announced in May 2005 it would donate
two giant pandas to Taiwan. But their departure has been delayed for more than
three years.
The 4-year-old pandas, one of China's most endangered
species, were transferred to a breeding base in Ya'an in Sichuan after the
Wolong Nature Reserve was seriously damaged in the May 12 earthquake.
Li said that after being shocked by the earthquake,
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan were emotionally unstable and lost weight. But they soon
recovered.
"A recent physical check-up showed they are very
strong and healthy and are ready for travel anytime," Li said.
After arriving in Taiwan, the panda pair will be
housed in a four-story building in the zoo. The bears will have the first floor
to themselves and an outdoor playground.
Five staff from the Taipei zoo have been at the
breeding base since October.
"Even though they don't have the experience of taking
care of pandas, they all majored in zoology so they learned very fast," Li said.
"I think they have basically mastered the techniques of caring for pandas and
disease control."
Qu Chunmao, the panda pair's current feeder, told
Chinese media that the "Taiwan colleagues" observed Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan closely
every day and talked with them in Mandarin and the Minnan dialect.
"They are already very familiar with the pandas. More
important, it's obvious that they love Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan. I believe the
pandas will be taken good care of in Taiwan," Qu said.
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