Tokyo zoo to receive pair of pandas from China next year

Ishihara yesterday said that the Chinese side has agreed in principle to lease two pandas for USD 950,000 a year, money that Tokyo expects to be used for the preservation of wild animals in China. The zoo has been without a panda since the death in April 2008 of Ling Ling, its only giant panda at the time.

"We received very strong requests from the local community (for a new panda)," Ishihara said. "The lease costs are not low. We asked for a discount and had them cut around  USD 50,000."

Ueno Zoo, which opened in 1882 in Taito Ward, saw the number of its visitors drop some 600,000 from the previous year to 2,898,191 in the year to March 31, 2009, dipping below 3 million for the first time in 60 years.

Zoo officials said at the time the fall was due not only to the lack of panda, but also deterioration of the economy and bad weather during holiday seasons. However, a tourism body and other organisations in the ward had urged the metropolitan government to realise the return of panda to the zoo.

In 2008, Ishihara described the panda's death as "not something that everyone should cry hard and feel sad about," adding, "If you want to see one, you can just go where there is one and see it."