Panda-fever is sweeping Japan as Tokyo’s Ueno Zoological Park welcomed the arrival of two giant pandas from China on Tuesday (February 22), reports The China Post.
Bili, the male, is described as "a big eater and sporty," while Xiannu, the female, is "active and affable," according to their Chinese handler. They are both five years old and will be the first pandas at Ueno since the death of Japan’s beloved Ling Ling in 2008.
"When the first panda came to Japan in 1972, they came here to Ueno. As there haven’t been any pandas at Ueno for a while now, there’s been a lot of people wanting to see a panda again," said the zoo’s president, Teruyuki Komiya.
In addition to the recently completed $1.1 million renovation to the panda habitat, the zoo will pay around $950,000 a year in exchange for the pair, with the money going towards rebuilding a Sichuan panda sanctuary which was badly damaged in the May 2008 earthquake that destroyed much of the region.