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Sunday, November 29, 2009

Trip of pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni to Adelaide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY4rue6w080endofvid
[starttext]
Pandas Wang Wang (网网) and Fu Ni (福妮) arrived at their new home around 1pm on November 28, 2009 afternoon - driven there in a climate-controlled semi-trailer escorted by police. They arrived in Adelaide around 10.25am on a Singapore Airlines cargo plane named Mega Ark with chief panda keeper Simone Bayly - who accompanied the pair during the flight from China, through Singapore.

It will be another two weeks before the pandas go on display. The official launch of the giant panda exhibit by the Governor General, Quentin Bryce, is scheduled for Sunday, December 13. Public viewing commences on Monday, December 14, but hourly viewing slots are filling fast.

Zoos South Australia chief executive Dr Chris West predicts 262,000 more people from overseas and 1.3 million Australians will choose to visit Adelaide because of the pandas in the next 10 years. [endtext]