Adelaide Zoo Pandas Wang Wang and Funi soon to be Adelaide Zoo stars

Simon Hampel · 6 Apr 2009

AdelaideNow... Pandas Wang Wang and Funi soon to be Adelaide Zoo stars

THERE'S time to relax now, but soon enough Wang Wang and Funi will be packing their bags for the 9000km journey to their new home in Adelaide.

These pictures, taken for the Sunday Mail on Friday, show the giant pandas lounging in their enclosure, munching on bamboo in Yaan, in China's Sichuan province.

But come October, the pair will be settling into their new state-of-the-art enclosure at the Adelaide Zoo, where they will remain for the next 10 years.

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Photo Gallery: Adelaide's perfect pandas | AdelaideNow
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taun · 6 Apr 2009

Does anyone know the age of the panda's? As they look quite young from the photo's.

zooman · 6 Apr 2009

For all that money invested in the pandas. Would have thought we would get some clean ones!

It would suggest that they wee hand raised.

Will ivf be used?

Simon Hampel · 23 Apr 2009

Giant pandas bound for Adelaide

Giant pandas bound for Adelaide - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

A team from the Adelaide Zoo is travelling to China to visit a pair of giant pandas which are bound for Australia later this year.

Giant pandas Wang Wang and Funi are being kept in a sanctuary in Sichuan Province until their arrival in Adelaide in September.

The pandas will be the first in Australia in more than 20 years and the only ones in captivity in the southern hemisphere.

Ultimately, it is hoped Wang Wang and Funi will breed, helping world-wide research about the endangered species.

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Simon Hampel · 29 May 2009

Oak moved to Adelaide Zoo for giant panda - Local News - News - General - The Independent Weekly

A 13m-high English oak will be transplanted in the giant panda precinct at Adelaide Zoo today after being transported from Victoria.

The tree will be a climbing structure for Wang Wang, who will arrive with fellow Giant panda Funi from China in October.

Tree transplanters in Victoria spent eight weeks preparing the oak for its move on an oversized flat-bed truck, and an 80-tonne crane will lift it into place.

The tree weighs between 15 and 20 tonnes, with a rootball of 3x3 metres.

Jason Hakof, assistant curator of Zoos SA, said giant pandas were expert climbers and incredibly agile in trees, despite their size.

“The tree will give Wang Wang a valuable climbing structure and make him feel at home in his new surroundings,” Mr Hakof said.

Giant pandas are naturally solitary animals in the wild, so Funi will require her own climbing structure to be added to her exhibit in the coming months.

Giant pandas Wang Wang and Funi are due to arrive from China in October 2009.
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James27 · 3 Jul 2009

Thought I'd post this here:
Zoos SA. Adelaide and Monarto Zoos. Australian Panda home.
Pictures and virtual tour of the new exhibit, looks pretty good!

kiang · 25 Jul 2009

Here are the latest pictures from the construction of the exhibit, due to be completed for the end of September, with the pandas arriving in October.

Zoos SA. Adelaide and Monarto Zoos. Australian Panda home.

boof · 15 Oct 2009

Any news??

Kifaru Bwana · 16 Oct 2009

When are the critters due in?

How will the Adelaide conservation aid be used in P.R. China? Which reserves and projects are being supported?

dragon(ele)nerd · 18 Oct 2009

this is so cool, Pandas in australia. Wang wang is three and a half. and Funi is 2 and a half.

boof · 29 Oct 2009

are they here yet?

thorney_devil · 29 Oct 2009

The website says you can meet them December 13. Obviously after they have gone through quarantine and settled into the new exhibit...

dragon(ele)nerd · 1 Nov 2009

I just the love the cartoon version of them!

CGSwans · 2 Nov 2009

boof said: ↑

are they here yet?
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Yes. But not on display until December 13, as thorney_devil said.

Simon Hampel · 3 Nov 2009

Wang Wang and Funi arrive in Adelaide November 28 (but not on display until Dec 13)

AdelaideNow... Wang Wang and Funi arrive in Adelaide November 28

GIANT Pandas, Wang Wang and Funi arrive in Adelaide on Saturday, November 28 - but the public's first glimpse of them two weeks later will only be through a glass barrier.

The pandas, which will live in their $8 million state-of-the-art enclosure at Adelaide Zoo for a decade are in quarantine for 30 days in China, Zoos South Australia President, Heather Caddick, said this morning.

Once at Adelaide Zoo, they will spend a further month in quarantine in their enclosure.

Wang Wang and Funi will still be in quarantine in Adelaide when their exhibit is opened to the public by Governor General Quentin Bryce on December 13, but will only be visible through massive floor-to-ceiling glass viewing areas.

Panda supersite: More news, pics and videos

The pandas should be able to use the outdoor sections of their enclosure early in the New Year.

Zoos SA CEO Professor Chris West said he was delighted that a date had been confirmed for the arrival of the pandas and that Chinese officials visiting Adelaide last week had been very impressed with the facilities in Adelaide.
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CGSwans · 4 Nov 2009

Fair enough then. I read in a South Australia tourism booklet (included in one of the Melbourne papers, I forget which) that they were in the country already. But I'll take this as the more authoritative source.

zooman · 4 Nov 2009

I will be in Adelaide on Friday for work in the afternoon, will be at the zoo in the morning I have not been to SA zoo for 25 years.

Actually last time l was there they had a victorian iron cage with concrete floor holding Syrian brown bears 0.1.3. It was BAD!!!

Will see what is going on and what l can find out.

zooman · 7 Nov 2009

A brand new entrance! (Another new entrance to a zoo). The old entrance is heritage listed so it will stay.

The new entrance looks impressive with a completion date of 14/12/2009 seems unlikely as allot of construction still going on. Immediately after entering you are on the path to Pandas! The enclosures look great with 6000 plants! Water features ECT. Interestingly the walls look like they are made from corrugated iron. A material usually associated with affordable roofing and not particularly strong!

A fair bit of chest beating going on proclaiming a world leading exhibit for Pandas! I would be surprised if DC Zoo is surpassed!

The Pandas are definitely not at the zoo! I wonder where they are?

Chlidonias · 12 Nov 2009

Panda poo fertiliser a likely winner - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Adelaide Zoo says it may change the name of its fertiliser from Zoo Poo to Panda Poo And Friends after giant pandas Wang Wang and Funi arrive soon.

Chief executive of Zoos SA Chris West says the bagged product has long been popular with gardeners.

"Pandas eat a lot of bamboo a day, about 20 kilos, and their weight doesn't go up every day so that'll tell you that they also produce a lot of poo," he said.

"And it's a great mulch for roses and it'll be the sort of mulch that your neighbours won't have."

The pandas will arrive in Australia from China on November 28 and there has been so much interest in their imminent arrival that a special call centre has been set up.

Zoo entry tickets will also have to be pre-purchased for the first few months after the pandas go on display from December 13.
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Simon Hampel · 12 Nov 2009

Keepers head to china to get to know our pandas

AdelaideNow... Keepers head to china to get to know our pandas

THE Adelaide Zoo's panda team is on its way to China to pick up a special Christmas present - giant pandas Wang Wa ng and Funi.

Head panda keeper Simone Bayly, head veterinarian Wayne Boardman and assistant curator Jason Hakof flew out of Adelaide yesterday morning bound for Singapore and, ultimately, Sichuan province in China's southwest.

The team will spend several weeks in the town of Ya'an, home of China's multi-million dollar Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre, which houses 81 giant pandas. There they will get to know Wang Wang and Funi.

"We'll be spending time with them, basically so they get familiar with us," Ms Bayly said. "Just being around them, sitting in on training sessions, making friends with them." The pandas and their new friends are due to arrive in Adelaide on November 28, after 30 days in quarantine in China.

PANDA SUPERSITE: All the latest news on Adelaide's panda superstars.

They will spend another month in quarantine in their $8 million enclosure, but will be on display from December 13.

The Adelaide team is bursting with excitement ahead of its 17,400km journey. The team says the pandas will be a boon for Adelaide.

"I'm very excited, absolutely," Dr Boardman said. "This is an amazing opportunity - it's fantastic. The atmosphere over the pandas is getting really exciting now."

Mr Hakof said this was a phenomenal opportunity for Adelaide.

"We're getting towards the real business end of the deal now," he said. "It's absolutely huge for Adelaide. We're one of the smaller zoos, but we've got a great reputation. It's a great privilege to be given the pandas, a great honour."

And Ms Bayly was on top of the world.

"It seems like it's been a long time coming," she said. "I'm extremely excited."

Because of crowds expected to flock to see the pair, general admission to the zoo will be restricted from December 13.

To enter the zoo and see the pandas after that date, you can book online at www.adelaidezoo.com.au
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