Two Giant Pandas will soon be on display at Adelaide zoo. Three year old Wang Wang and his two year old mate Funi left China in mid-November, bound for a 10 year stay at Adelaide zoo.

To accommodate its new guests Adelaide Zoo has undergone a major construction project. In addition to the new panda enclosure, the zoo has a new ticketing area and a function centre known as the Santos Conservation Centre.

Giant Pandas are on the endangered species listing with only 1600 left in the wild. To protect the species and secure its long term survival, breeding pairs of Giant Pandas are loaned to zoos outside China. Wang Wang and Funi are a genetically important pairing and it is hoped that they will breed once they both reach sexual maturity in 2010.

Adelaide Zoo’s panda enclosure cost $8 million and includes a separate enclosure and day room for each panda as well as sleeping dens and a nursery.

Native to the high mountains and deep valleys of China, the Giant Pandas will be kept cool in Adelaide by chilled rocks. Haden Engineering’s Project Manager John Grimwade said the rocks had chilled water coils constructed from PVC Nitrile material embedded within the Glass Reinforced Concrete (GRC) rock. Chilled water enters the rock at 6°C and aims to maintain the surface of the rock at 12°C on a 25°C ambient day.

“When the weather is too warm, 25°C or above, the pandas will stay inside their day rooms where chilled water air handling units complete with heat recovery modules air condition the room to maintain a maximum indoor temperature of 18°C,” he said.

To help facilitate the air flow and cooling Fantech supplied a range of products including five in-line centrifugal fans and two in-line mixed flow fans.

The panda enclosure is due to be opened to the public on 13 December.