Sendai seeking panda loan

Sendai City in northeastern Japan has asked China to loan a pair of pandas to a local zoo to boost the city's efforts to rebuild after the March 11th disaster.

Sendai City mayor Emiko Okuyama said on Monday that she made the request to the Chinese Ambassador to Japan, Cheng Yonghua, when she visited Tokyo last month.

Cheng replied that the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species restricts moving pandas from one country to another, but that he would relay the request to Chinese government.

Okuyama said the pandas would be a source of pleasure to the children in the disaster-hit areas. She called for support from the central government, saying her city will not be able to achieve this goal on its own.
In 2000, 5 years after a powerful earthquake hit western Japan, China loaned a pair of pandas to a zoo in hard-hit Kobe City.

The zoo says the animals attracted about 14-million visitors during their 10-year visit.

At a news conference on Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the central government would help Sendai in its negotiations with China.

He said he believes the pandas would give the children hope, and that the government would be pleased if the city's wish is realized.

Monday, October 17, 2011 14:29 +0900 (JST)