A pair of giant pandas have departed from Wolong National Nature Reserve in southwest China's Sichuan Province for a 10-year research cooperation project with Indonesia.
The two seven-year-old pandas will be flown from Chengdu to Jakarta by Indonesian state airline Garuda Indonesia at 4:10 a.m. Thursday.
The pandas were born at the Ya'an Bifengxia base, part of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Sichuan.
Caitao, the male panda, weighs 127 kilograms, while the female panda, Huchun, weighs 120 kilograms.
A panda keeper and a veterinarian will accompany them to Indonesia.
Caitao and Huchun will live in a 4,800-square-meter panda park at Taman Safari Indonesia.
The panda park is located 1,700 meters above sea level to ensure the pandas are at a similar altitude to their hometown, said Jansen Manansang, director of Taman Safari Indonesia.
The animal park sent several Chinese-trained veterinarians and keepers to Wolong in August to become familiar with the pandas.
Talks regarding the pandas were initiated in 2010 when China and Indonesia celebrated the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
A memorandum of understanding was signed by representatives of China Wildlife Conservation Association and Taman Safari Indonesia on Aug. 1 last year in Guiyang, China.
China Conservation and Research Center has established research cooperation relationships with 14 zoos in 12 countries and regions. Currently, a total of 33 giant pandas have participated in research cooperation projects and 18 panda cubs have been born overseas, 11 of which have been returned to China.
