Pair Due From China July 27 : Rush Is On to Prepare Panda Quarters

Construction on a new enclosure is continuing around the clock at the San Diego Zoo as officials work to meet a July 27 deadline for the arrival of two great pandas that will be on loan for 200 days from a Chinese zoo.

Zoo spokesman Chris Peterson said the current clouded-leopard exhibit is being remodeled to accommodate Basi and Yuan Yuan, who will fly out of Shanghai on July 23. The new panda exhibit will be located near the Hunte Amphitheatre and will include some major changes.

The road in front of the exhibit is being raised six feet to give as many people as possible a good view of the two animals, the first great pandas to be seen at the zoo. A terraced queue line on the road will allow about 100 people at once--standing in up to five rows--an opportunity to view the giant mammals. Passengers in tour buses will also have an unobstructed view of the pandas.

According to Peterson, new restrooms are also being built near the exhibit to accommodate the crowds expected to try for a glimpse of the pandas. Television monitors will be placed in the waiting area so people who are standing in line to enter the exhibit can watch the animals.

“We’re anticipating a rush of visitors, so we’re working with the police and city officials to alleviate the expected traffic problems around and near the zoo,” Peterson said.

Two keepers from the Fuzhou Zoo in China will accompany the giant pandas to San Diego and remain with them during their stay here. Peterson said the keepers are expected to live on the zoo grounds in a trailer. At the Fuzhou Zoo, five keepers live with the six pandas in the building where the animals are kept.

During their stay in San Diego, the pandas will have several exercise sessions daily, at the direction of the Chinese keepers. Each session will last for about 20 minutes and can be viewed by the public.

San Diego Zoo officials said the pandas will be flown to Los Angeles, then driven to San Diego the same day and released into the bedroom area behind the exhibit. The pandas will have three days to recuperate from their 17-hour flight before their exhibit opens at 9 a.m. on July 27.

Basi and Yuan Yuan (pronounced Ba-see and Yen Yen) will be returned to China following their stay in San Diego.