Society

Japanese-born panda back to China's breeding base

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-16 22:53

BEIJING - A giant panda born in Japan Tuesday went back to a breeding base in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, completing his home-returning journey via Beijing.

The 4-year-old male panda, Xing Bang (or "Kohin" in Japanese), left Osaka's Itami Airport on Monday evening for the purpose of breeding in China.

In order to make his journey comfortable and safe, Air China Cargo made special arrangement for Xing Bang's flight to Chengdu and allocated a quiet area for him to sleep overnight at the Beijing airport, the company said Tuesday.

Xing Bang, weighing about 110 kilograms, was born on August 23, 2005, and was raised at the Adventure World in Shirahama. He will now spent the rest of his life in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

He was the base's fifth giant panda that had come from overseas since 1994 when Chengdu signed a long-term international breeding cooperation plan with Japan and the United States.

Two US-born giant pandas, Tai Shan and Mei Lan, returned to Sichuan last month.

Tai Shan, a 4-year-old male, had met the public on March 9 at the Ya'an Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base of the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center. Mei Lan, a 3-year-old female, also met the public Monday at her new home -- the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

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 mainly in China, but also abroad.