SYDNEY (AFP) — China agreed to send two giant pandas to Australia Thursday at a meeting between Prime Minister John Howard and President Hu Jintao ahead of an Asia-Pacific summit.
Wangwang, a two-year-old male panda and Funi, a one-year-old female, will spend 10 years at Adelaide Zoo as part of a breeding program to ensure the survival of the endangered bears, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
The pandas were bred in captivity at the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan.
"Wangwang and Funi's stay in Adelaide will be a lasting reminder of the warm relations between Australia and China and the successful visit of President Hu to Australia," Downer said.
"We are proud to help ensure a bright future for the giant panda," he added.
"Through sustained and cooperative effort, our children and their children will be able also to see this unique animal."
Giant pandas are among the world's most endangered species, with around 1,600 living in the wild, mostly in the mountains of Sichuan province, and some 160 in captivity around the world.
China set up a loan system in 1984 under which foreign zoos house breeding pairs of the black-and-white bears.
Hu is on a state visit to Australia ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit at the weekend.
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