Panda Preps at the Adelaide Zoo: Keith checks out the new building in the Adelaide City region of South Australia
The Adelaide Zoo is a nice stroll down from the city but when you arrive you'll see a few changes. A giant construction site has taken over about a quarter of the zoo as it undergoes the biggest single makeover in its history. A giant slice of China is about to arrive in time for the zoos new guests, pandas, Wang Wang and Funi.
Zoo CEO, Doctor Chris West is like an expectant father - nervously watching the panda's new home take shape and with it, a long-held dream become a reality.
Doctor Chris West, Zoo CEO: "This has all got to be turned into a state of the art panda facility within the next 6 months."
And what a pad - a lush, colourful landscape which takes the visitor through a swathe of Chinese forest and into the state of the art enclosures that 4 year old boy, Wang Wang and his potential partner, Funi, which means 'lucky girl' will call home for the next ten years.
Doctor Chris West, Zoo CEO: "They'll be on show behind glass but it'll be climate controlled so on a really hot day they'll retreat into there."
There'll also be a whole new zoo entrance too on the corner fronting Botanic Park and Frome Road. It'll include a conservation centre, function centre and bar overlooking the pandas on one side and Botanic Park on the other.
The pandas are sure to be a hit. They're a symbol of all that is innocent, cute and very vulnerable.
Under enormous pressure in their native environment, they will be on loan to us for 10 years as part of a cooperative conservation agreement between China and the Zoo.
Doctor Chris West, Zoo CEO: "We ticked all the boxes, we've got a research ability, we work in the field, we work internationally, we've got teaching and training opportunities with the local universities so the Chinese people can come over here and train - we've got everything they were looking for so that was easy."
Of course, Adelaide is a long way from mountains of central China - not many bamboo forests around here. No worries - just plant a 14-hectare bamboo plantation at Bolivar - after all these guys eat 20 kilos of the stuff every day!
Doctor Chris West, Zoo CEO: "What comes out the other end is interesting - it's a bit like chopped bamboo that's been stained because it's nutritionally very poor and they can't digest it terribly well so we're going to offer a ver superior mulch. A special Panda mulch that only money can buy."
This multi million dollar project isn't just about tourism but conservation with the money raised to be used to help with the zoo's wider conservation brief. But, of course, the question everyone is asking - will we hear the pitter patter of little panda feet?
Doctor Chris West, Zoo CEO: "The females only want to mate 4 days a year and before blokes start laughing, the males only want to mate two days a year - so you have to get that syncing right and they need to be compatible."
We'll just have to wait and see on that front. But with less than 200 Giant Pandas in captivity, and only a few on loan around the world, we'll be joining a pretty exclusive list of world zoos.
All going well, Wang Wang and Funi will arrive in Adelaide in October. In the meantime, the zoo is still open for business 9.30 - 5 every day. If you have any further questions please email info at postcards-sa.com.au
Adelaide Zoo
Frome Road
Adelaide
Open daily 9.30am - 5.00pm
Ph 8267 3255Published 15th March 2009
