Eight pandas start new life in ancient town in Central China

CHANGSHA - Eight pandas moved to their new home in the ancient town of Fenghuang in Central China's Hunan province on Friday.

This is the first time the ancient town, also a popular tourist destination, has welcomed giant pandas. The animals will make Fenghuang their permanent home.

With the average annual temperature ranging from 12.6 to 16.7 degrees Celsius, Fenghuang County boasts more than 3,333 hectares of bamboo forest, providing a good habitat for giant pandas.

To provide a good living environment for the new arrivals, Fenghuang has built a panda theme park.

Two of the eight pandas, named Long Sheng and Qing Feng, were born in 2000 and 2007 respectively. The other six pandas were born in 2017. They were transported from southwest China's Sichuan Province to Fenghuang by a special vehicle.

Before the transportation, the eight pandas were placed under observation in the giant panda protection center, and they are now in good health.

Teng Qiong, director of Fenghuang County Forestry Bureau, said that the pandas were transported in refrigerator trucks for their safety and comfort. A total of six trucks were rented, with four vehicles carrying two giant pandas each, while one truck carried enough bamboo and bamboo shoots for five days, and another empty truck was kept on standby.

"During the transportation, we rested at the high-speed service areas for 30 minutes every three hours. The keepers provided food and water for the pandas and carefully observed their health condition," Teng said.

Construction of the panda theme park in Fenghuang started at the end of 2018. It includes a panda house, a panda hospital, a feed processing room, a tourist service center, a science museum and other supporting projects. There will be 16 professional keepers to take care of the pandas in the park.