Visitors Bid Farewell to Ueno Zoo Pandas before Their Return Home

Tokyo, Sept. 28 (Jiji Press)--Many visitors bid farewell Saturday to two giant pandas at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo that are set to return to China the following day.

As a large crowd flocked to the zoo gate in hopes of catching a glimpse of the pair--Ri Ri and Shin Shin, acceptance of the day's general admission ended before the zoo opened. More than 12,000 people applied for the final viewing slot from 3 p.m., with 200 winners picked by lottery in advance.

In the viewing room, some people called out "thank you" and "take care" to the pandas, while others waved to them with tears in their eyes.

Masayo Horiguchi, a 39-year-old self-employed woman from the city of Wako in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, who became a fan of pandas after Ri Ri and Shin Shin came to the zoo, said: "I told them 'thank you for everything' and said goodbye with a smile. I still can't believe that they are going home but I hope they will live long and healthy lives in their homeland."

Harumi Togashi, a teary-eyed 50-year-old housewife from the city of Matsudo in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, said, "I always felt healed by their cute moves."

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]