Wang Wang and Fu Ni's arrival in SA in 2009 came with great fanfare and excitement that one day Adelaide's Zoo would have a panda cub. But while they have been a tourism draw card, their failure to breed means the state will now bid them farewell.
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00:00Panda Pandemonium, for the arrival of Wong Wong and Foonie in 2009.
00:08Are you crying? Yes I was and I didn't want to do that because then I'd look like them and I'd have panda eyes.
00:14It was the first time pandas had been in the southern hemisphere, prompting high hopes of an Australian born cub.
00:21But despite multiple attempts at artificial insemination and even showing the pair panda pornography, Foonie never fell pregnant.
00:29We obviously haven't had the success that we had hoped for with Foonie and Wong Wong. Maybe in the future with these new pandas we will.
00:37More than 5 million people have come here to Adelaide Zoo to see Wong Wong and Foonie since they arrived nearly 15 years ago.
00:44The zoo hopes the new pandas will continue to be a tourism drawcard for the state.
00:49It gathers everyone together and I think it's a great opportunity for the state.
00:55We will start a better relationship through the recent Chinese pandas in Adelaide Zoo.
01:02Wong Wong and Foonie will head back to China in November, but it's not yet known when the new pandas will arrive.
01:09Over the coming months we will have conversations with our counterparts in China to understand what that process looks like
01:16in terms of being able to find out what are the new pandas that will come to Adelaide.
01:19The zoo says it will consider genetics and compatibility when selecting which pandas come to Adelaide next.