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BEIJING: Eight pandas who survived China's deadly earthquake went on display at Beijing Zoo on Thursday, with officials expecting the bears to attract millions of Olympic visitors.
After a special welcoming ceremony, a steady stream of mainly Chinese tourists crowded around the two-year-old cubs' enclosure and took photos with their phone cameras, as the pandas munched on bamboo.
The endangered animals arrived on May 24 from their famed breeding ground in Wolong, a town in China's southwest Sichuan province, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the epicentre of last month's devastating earthquake.
"We always pat them gently, talk with them in the Sichuan dialect and maintain eye contact so it will be easier for them to adapt to their new home," the official Xinhua news agency quoted panda keeper Wu Daifu as saying.
"Having got over the minor anxiety (of the quake), they are living healthily in the zoo and growing heavier."
The pandas were scheduled before the quake to come to the Chinese capital as star attractions for visitors during the Beijing Olympics in August.
"The cubs... are expected to attract six million domestic and foreign tourists during their six-month show in the capital," Xinhua said.
The panda is one of the world's most endangered animals, with an estimated 1,600 in nature parks in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces, plus more than 200 others in captivity, according to Chinese media. - AFP/ac
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