Pandas on flight from China to France
- 12 years ago
(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)
Two giant pandas -- Yuan Zai and Huan Huan -- from southwestern China were boarded on a special charter flight early Sunday morning (January 15) to embark on a cross-continental journey to their new home in central France.
The pair were housed in special transportation cages where they can feed during the 11-hour flight from Sichuan to Paris.
Upon arrival, the three-year-old pandas will be transported to the Beauval Zoo in Saint Aignan in central France, where they are expected to live for 10 years, under a joint conservation and research programme with the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
A Chinese panda keeper and a veterinarian are accompanying Yuan Zai (Round Boy in Chinese) and Huan Huan (Happy One), male and female respectively.
LARRY B. ASHKENAZ, MANAGER FOR FEDEX CHARTERS, SAYING (English):
"It's a very smooth flight. Our crews will do everything to make sure that if it gets bumpy, they'll go a different way. It's about an 11-hour flight, direct. There will be no stops."
The two pandas had been placed in a special quarantine area at the panda base for more than a month to prepare for the long journey, with their health regularly monitored.
Since the 1950s, China has given away pandas as gestures of goodwill in what has come to be known as "panda diplomacy".
Beijing sent a pair of giant pandas to France in 1973.
Two giant pandas -- Yuan Zai and Huan Huan -- from southwestern China were boarded on a special charter flight early Sunday morning (January 15) to embark on a cross-continental journey to their new home in central France.
The pair were housed in special transportation cages where they can feed during the 11-hour flight from Sichuan to Paris.
Upon arrival, the three-year-old pandas will be transported to the Beauval Zoo in Saint Aignan in central France, where they are expected to live for 10 years, under a joint conservation and research programme with the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.
A Chinese panda keeper and a veterinarian are accompanying Yuan Zai (Round Boy in Chinese) and Huan Huan (Happy One), male and female respectively.
LARRY B. ASHKENAZ, MANAGER FOR FEDEX CHARTERS, SAYING (English):
"It's a very smooth flight. Our crews will do everything to make sure that if it gets bumpy, they'll go a different way. It's about an 11-hour flight, direct. There will be no stops."
The two pandas had been placed in a special quarantine area at the panda base for more than a month to prepare for the long journey, with their health regularly monitored.
Since the 1950s, China has given away pandas as gestures of goodwill in what has come to be known as "panda diplomacy".
Beijing sent a pair of giant pandas to France in 1973.