Visitors to Tokyo's Ueno Zoo bid farewell to giant panda Xiang Xiang

Visitors to Tokyo's Ueno Zoo have bid a final farewell to Xiang Xiang the giant panda before her departure to China on Tuesday.

About 2,600 people chosen by lottery were allowed to view the 5-year-old Japan-born panda in her enclosure on Sunday, the last day she could be seen by the public.

Xiang Xiang is the zoo's first naturally bred giant panda. She is to be sent to China for breeding purposes under an ownership agreement with the country.

The cuddly animal munched on bamboo in front of visitors on Sunday. Her fans cheered when she bit into the bamboo shoots that she loves.

Some people were in tears as they wished her well. Many tried to take photos or videos during the allotted time of roughly two minutes for each visitor.

More than 60,000 people applied to view Xiang Xiang's final public appearance on Sunday. This was about 24 times the number of available tickets.

A woman says she came to see the giant panda from Yokohama every week.

She says she will miss Xiang Xiang, who almost became part of her life, and she hopes the panda will be a good mother.

Xiang Xiang is scheduled to leave the zoo in a truck early on Tuesday morning, and will travel to China with her keepers on a chartered flight.

Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20230220_17/