A pair of giant pandas are leaving their southwest China home on Friday to start the first leg of their journey to Madrid, where they will stay for 10 years as a goodwill gesture promised during a visit by Spanish King Juan Carlos to Beijing earlier this year.
The pair, seven-year-old "Bing Xing" and four-year old "Hua Zui Ba", will be flown from their home at a giant panda breeding and research base in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, to Shanghai on Friday afternoon, sources with the base said.
They will spend one night at Shanghai Pudong International Airport and will take a chartered plane to Madrid early on Saturday.
At the zoologists' request, airport authorities have arranged a cosy room for the panda pair and air-conditioned the indoor temperature to 20 degrees Celsius, similar to their natural habitats in mountains of southwest China.
The bears will be accompanied by their own keepers from the Chengdu base and three zoo workers from Madrid throughout the trip, which is estimated to last 30 hours at least.
King Juan Carlos is scheduled to host a grand ceremony around next Friday to welcome the two cuddly bears, said Jesus Fernandez, general manager of the Madrid Zoo.
He said the pair are due to go on display two weeks after their arrival, but it depends on how fast they will adapt to their new home.
Fernandez said the zoo has arranged a comfortable pen for each of them, equipped with air-conditioners, humidifiers and closed-circuit surveillance systems to keep an eye on them 24 hours a day.
They will also have an outdoor sports ground, where a small pond and some seesaw and sliding board type of facilities will help them exercise to keep fit.
Fernandez said the lush bamboo forests in the suburbs of Madrid will provide ample food for the pandas, and in case of shortage, fresh bamboo can also be imported from the neighboring countries including France and Portugal.
