Australian Giant Pandas worth estimated $600 million

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http://news./s/afp/20091125/lf_afp/australiachinaanimalpanda China's

pandas worth more than Tiger Woods: Australian zoo

[image: AFP]

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[image: China's pandas worth more than Tiger Woods: Australian zoo]

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– This

undated photo from the Adelaide Zoo shows Wang Wang, a two-year-old male

panda in China. Two giant …

Wed Nov 25, 12:11 pm ET

 

SYDNEY (AFP) – Two giant pandas due to begin a 10-year stay at an Australian

zoo could give the local economy a bigger boost than recent visits by Tiger

Woods or Lance Armstrong, officials said Wednesday.

 

Wang Wang, four, and three-year-old Funi are due to arrive at Adelaide Zoo

Saturday for a long-term loan from the Panda Protection and Research Centre

at Ya'an in China's Sichuan Province.

 

Zoos South Australia chief Chris West said the stay would be a " financial

bonanza " for the state's economy, reaping an estimated 600-million dollar

benefit over the 10 years.

 

" The pandas can be expected to generate 632 million dollars (584 million US)

for the state economy over 10 years, " West said.

 

" Each year (the pandas) could generate significantly more economic benefits

than the much-vaunted appearances by golfer Tiger Woods or cyclist Lance

Armstrong, " he added.

 

West said the zoo was expecting " huge " visitor numbers for the pandas, which

will be the only ones of their kind in the southern hemisphere.

 

" The average increase in visitation at the US zoos (with pandas) has been 70

percent for about two years after their arrival, and another 30 percent if

and when baby pandas were born, " he said.

 

The pandas will spend their first month in Australia quarantined in a new

purpose-built enclosure, which features refrigerated rocks to help keep them

cool through what is forecast to be a summer of record-breaking heat.

 

Their first public appearance will be on December 13, and zookeepers said

they would focus on trying to breed panda cubs -- a notoriously difficult

task for the low-sexed creatures.