8 Olympic pandas to arrive in Beijing as scheduled                                                            From: CCTV

                                                                                                                    News Time: 26 May 2008

Eight pandas from the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve in Sichuan Province are due to arrive in Beijing on Saturday. They will be on show for tourists during the Olympic Games, until November. The visit was planned long before the earthquake struck 12 days ago.

The eight two-year-old giant pandas were chosen in an online poll from 16 candidates born in 2006 in Wolong's Panda Protection and Research Center. They are expected to attract more than 6 million tourists during their time at the Beijing Zoo.

Wu Daifu, panada handler, said, "The eight pandas may have some problems or contract diseases during the long trip to Beijing. But I think there is going to be no problem with the move according to our past experience."

Wolong planned to send up to eight panda handlers, vets and technicians to take care of the animals during their stay in Beijing.

Sending the pandas to cheer for the Olympics will also promote China's achievements in panda breeding and protection.

Zhang Hemin, Director Wolong Giant Panda Reserve, said, "The giant panda is a typical top species in the world, and also a representative of environmental and zoological protection and biological diversity. We want to let the people all over the world know about the protection of this endangered animal, and that China's artificial breeding of giant panda is very successful."

The earthquake badly damaged parts of the animals' homes, but all of the 60 or so pandas there survived the quake, although two are missing.

An emergency shipment of about five tons of bamboo has been delivered to Wolong. The supplies also included apples, soybeans, eggs and milk powder to ensure adequate food for the animals in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Some pandas have been transferred to the Ya'an Reserve near the provincial capital Chengdu to relieve some of the pressure on food and other supplies at Wolong.