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Rachael Ward

Panda pair doin' it easy in new life Down Under

Star attractions Xing Qui and Yi Lan have settled comfortably in their new surroundings. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)

Australia's newest pandas have well and truly settled into life Down Under, putting on a show for thousands of visitors in just a couple of months.

Some 47,000 people have visited Adelaide Zoo since star attractions Xing Qiu and Yi Lan made their debut in January.

There are high hopes the pair will welcome cubs but the zoo is keeping them separate for the next few years as they mature.

Giant panda at Adelaide Zoo
Visitors in their tens of thousands have flocked to see Xing Qui and Yi Lan. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)

They are said to have distinct personalities, with the female Yi Lan more active and inquisitive while male Xing Qiu is keen on food and prefers to chill out in the zoo's air-conditioned facilities.

They were seen munching on bamboo and moving around their enclosures on Sunday, which happened to be International Panda Day.

South Australian Tourism Minister Zoe Bettison said it was pleasing to see the pair were right at home in their new surroundings.

"(We are) ecstatic their arrival and presence at the Adelaide Zoo has delighted intrastate, interstate and international visitors while helping conservationists learn more about this vulnerable species," she said.

Giant panda at Adelaide Zoo
Xing Qui and Yi Lan wasted no time celebrating International Panda Day with some fresh sugar cane. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)

They replaced the zoo's former residents Wang Wang and Fu-ni, who arrived in 2009 but have since returned to China without breeding successfully.

The species is no longer classified as endangered but instead vulnerable, with the zoo claiming breeding programs like theirs have contributed to the 1864 giant pandas that now roam wild across six major mountain ranges in China.

The presence of the animals in foreign countries has been labelled as an example of panda diplomacy, a term dating back to the 1950s when Chairman Mao Zedong gave pandas to allies to strengthen ties and diplomatic goodwill.

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