Vienna - Panda Fu Long, the two-year-old star of the Vienna Zoo, left Austria and was flown to China on Wednesday, the zoo confirmed. The two-year-old male panda had become an attraction not only because of his cuddly looks, but also because he was the first Giant Panda to be born in captivity in Europe in 25 years.
"Many visitors came to his enclosure to say goodbye," zoo spokeswoman Barbara Feldmann said one day before the departure.
As Fu Long's parents are in Vienna on loan from China, there was an agreement that Fu Long would eventually be moved to the Bifengxia panda breeding and research centre in Sichuan province.
Accompanied by his keeper and a veterinarian, Fu Long embarked on his 22-hour trip in an airplane stocked with in-flight meals including bamboo and sweet potatoes.
Although pandas usually lose interest in breeding in captivity, Vienna Zoo director Dagmar Schratter hopes that Fu Long's father and mother will produce new offspring next year.
