New videos below.
Thanks to Lupoforme of YouTube who provided a translation on a recent TV broadcast from Austria, we can hear from the many great people who were involved in caring for Fu Long's during his life at Zoo Vienna and how they prepared Fu for his journey to China. I have added a second video from the ORF TV that was recorded later that night after the first one and an article that appeared online letting us know Fu Long made it safely to China
Monsters and Critics.com reports that Fu Long has arrived safetly in China.
" Beijing - Vienna - Panda Fu Long, the two-year-old star of the Vienna Zoo, on Thursday arrived in his new home in the south-western Chinese province in Sichuan, a zoo official said. Fu Long will have to undergo a month of quarantine, a deputy head of the Wolong future reserve told the German Press Agency dpa over phone. The two-year-old male panda had become an attraction at the Austrian zoo not only because of his cuddly looks, but also because he was the first Giant Panda to be born in captivity in Europe in 25 years, making the Viennese loath to part with him.
As Fu Long's parents are in Vienna on loan from China, there was an agreement that Fu Long would be moved to the Bifengxia panda breeding and research centre in Sichuan province, from where his parents, Yang Yang and Long Hui, hail as well.
'The panda is a Chinese national treasure,' the Wolong official said. 'In accordance with the research agreement, it had to return to its mother country. All these cooperation agreements state that the offspring belongs to China.'
The little panda was accompanied on his big trip by an Austrian veterinarian and a panda keeper, who will stay with the animal for another two weeks until he is settled in. Although pandas usually lose interest in breeding in captivity, Vienna Zoo director Dagmar Schratter hopes that Fu Long's father and mother will produce new offspring next year."
Here is a video that show Fu during his last two days at Zoo Vienna. Thanks to lupoforme of YouTube for these lasting memories. I also have a wonderful set of photos taken by Jeroen Jacobs of Giant Panda Zoo that I will be putting together soon.
