A giant panda leased from Beijing arrived at Tianjin Zoo in north China Thursday to begin her one-year cohabitation with another female giant panda Lannir to relieve the mammal's loneliness.

Yue Yue, the female giant panda from Beijing, will live in the Tianjin Zoo's giant panda park with panda Lannir for one year at a cost of 120,000 yuan (US$14,000), according to the leasing contract.

Before the arrival of 23-year-old Yue Yue, Lannir, 24, was the only giant panda in the zoo and had suffered bad appetite, loneliness and boredom, according to the zoo.

Zoo keepers said Yue Yue would help Lannir live a happy life with her beautiful fur bearing, good appetite and energetic characteristic.

Yue Yue had quickly adjusted to her new home and seemed to love the apples and carrots prepared by the zoo immediately after her arrival.

Yue Yue's arrival also sparked widespread interest in Tianjin and a local company set up a donation fund for the giant panda to improve her living standards.

Captured in Baoxing County of southwest China's Sichuan Province in 1982, Yue Yue was hailed as a "mother hero" for she had produced 12 cubs, and eight of her offspring survived.

Yue Yue was also seen as an excellent diplomat since she had once visited Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York as a friendly ambassador.

China has put considerable resources into protecting the endangered species. Their numbers have been depleted by low fertility, logging, poaching and the periodic withering away of their staple food, bamboo. Only approximately 1,000 giant pandas are estimated to live in the wild, all in China, while some 140 live in captivity around the world.

(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2004)