Director of the Zoological Park Organization disclosed that he would search for new animals to attract more visitors to Thailand's zoos, following a twofold increase in visitor numbers to the Chiang Mai Zoo as a result of the acquisition of two giant pandas from China.

Citing figures showing that the panda couple, "Chuang Chuang" and "Lin Hui" had led to a huge influx of visitors from Thailand and abroad, Sophon Dumnui was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying Sunday that the Zoological Park Organization was now looking for other "unusual" animals for its other four zoos to display.

Before the acquisition of the two pandas, who have been described as "animal friendship ambassadors" from the Chinese government, the zoo in the northern city of Chiang Mai generally received around 600,000 visitors each year.

In the three months since the arrival of the pandas, however, over 400,000 people have already visited the zoo, with visitor numbers for 2004 as a whole projected at over 1.2 million.

Sophon suggested that new animals could include giant anteaters from South America, Komodo dragons from Indonesia, or gorillas from Africa.

"There has to be sale point, a 'star of the show'," Sophon said.

While conceding that the acquisition of animals such as giant pandas involved a huge amount of preparation and a large financial commitment, he said that such animals won over visitors.

The Zoological Park Organization Under the Royal Patronage of His Majesty the King was now contacting various countries to see if unusual animals could be shown in Thailand, he added.

(People's Daily March 8, 2004)