Chinese mainland selects pandas to give to Macao

09:55, May 30, 2010      
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Photo taken on May 29, 2010 shows a pair of pandas picked as a gift for Macao by the Chinese mainland at Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Both born in 2008, the two pandas were selected by a panel of experts in terms of age, physical condition, behavior and psychology, appearance and genetic factors. (Xinhua/Chen Xie)
A pair of giant pandas has been selected as gift for the Macao Special Administration Region, the State Forestry Administration announced Saturday in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, the endangered species' hometown.
The pandas come from the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding and Research Base. Names for the two will be solicited from the Macao public.
With code number 717, the male panda was born on Aug. 4, 2008, while the female one, with code 710, was born a just a few day earlier on July 26.
Zhang Zhihe, head of the breeding and research base, told Xinhua a panel of nine experts began the selection process at the beginning of April.
They had carefully evaluated factors such as age, physical and psychological condition, behavior, appearance and family tree of 38 candidate pandas before making final decision, according to Zhang.
It was not announced when the pandas will go to Macao.
Florinda da Rosa Silva Chan, head of the Secretariat for Administration and Justice of Macao SAR, said experts and vets from the mainland and Hong Kong had come to Macao to help train local animal keepers.
Construction work for the panda's new home is well under way, she added.
The panda's home is located inside the Seac Pai Van Park on Macao's Coloane Island and covers an area of 3,000 square meters.
China's central government decided to give a pair of pandas to Macao on Dec. 19 last year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Macao Special Administrative Region.
Giant pandas, known for being sexually inactive, are among the world's most endangered animals.
About 1,600 giant pandas live in China's wild, mostly in Sichuan and the northwestern provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu. Another 290 are in captive-breeding programs worldwide, mostly in China.
Source: Xinhua
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