Three giant pandas living in Beijing Zoo will be sent to Wolong of Sichuan Province, southwest China, Wednesday and three others in Sichuan will fly to Beijing Friday, under an exchange program aimed to maintain the biodiversity of the giant panda population.

"It is impossible for giant pandas fed in captivity to survive through natural selection, which will result in similar heredities, " said a zookeeper. "The inbreeding among giant pandas in the same areas easily leads to the species' degeneration."

There are 11 giant pandas in Beijing Zoo and only one was caught in the wild, with the other ten artificially bred.

The three Beijing giant pandas about to leave were born respectively in 1991, 1999 and 2003, and one of the three Sichuan pandas was also born last year.

Wolong is a famous giant panda habitat where the world-known China Conservation and Research Center of the Giant Panda is located.

(Xinhua News Agency October 20, 2004)