[ad_1]
SYDNEY: China will loan new “cute” giant pandas to Australia to replace a much-loved pair that have lived together for more than a decade but failed to produce offspring, Chinese Premier Li Qiang announced on Sunday (June 16).
Wang Wang and Fu Ni have been on loan to China since 2009, with Adelaide Zoo becoming their home as part of a global conservation programme and a tool of “panda diplomacy”.
Breeding giant panda cubs is an extremely difficult task for animals of unclear sex, and hopes of getting pandas pregnant through artificial insemination and other methods have been dashed time and again in Adelaide.
As one of the furry behemoths played in a patch of woods in the background, Lee delivered the news that they were going home.
“Wangwang and Funi have been away from home for 15 years. I think they must miss their hometown very much, so they will return to China before the end of the year,” the prime minister said.
“But what I can tell you is that we will provide you with a pair of equally beautiful, cute and lovable giant pandas as soon as possible.”
Li Keqiang, who arrived in Adelaide on Saturday, said China would offer Australia candidates to choose from. Four-day restoration journey Beijing previously lifted a series of trade sanctions on Australia’s major export products.
The announcement was a recognition of Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s efforts to stabilise Australia’s relationship with China following a diplomatic rift with the previous conservative government.
Li Keqiang said he remembered that the Australian foreign minister reminded him twice during his visit to Beijing in November last year that the panda loan agreement would expire later this year.
“We are making this announcement to fulfil the minister’s wishes,” he said.
Huang, whose hometown is Adelaide, said her children would also be “very happy” to hear the news.
“It’s good for the economy, it’s good for jobs in South Australia, it’s good for tourism, it’s a gesture of goodwill and we thank you,” she said.
Environmental group WWF estimates that there are only 1,860 giant pandas left in the wild.
However, the animals were removed from the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s endangered species list in 2016 and still face serious threats from habitat loss and fragmentation.
[ad_2]
Source link
