TOKYO —

More than 10,000 people have signed a book expressing their condolences for the recent death of Ling Ling, a male which was the only giant panda at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo, zoo officials said, as the zoo is awaiting pandas to be loaned as pledged by visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao. While such a large number of people expressed their condolences for the loss of the panda as they visited the zoo during the Golden Week holiday period in Japan through Tuesday, feelings were mixed among visitors over accepting new pandas with high lease costs.

Visitors to the zoo wrote farewell messages like ‘‘Good-bye’’ and ‘‘Hope you will be happy in heaven’’ while some children were also seen crying in front of Ling Ling’s photograph. The condolence book was placed in front of the male panda’s shelter from April 30 after he died of chronic heart failure at 22 years and seven months old, equivalent to about 70 human years. Some visitors called for another new panda to be brought from China, but others questioned the lease fee that is likely to be exorbitantly high.

© 2008 Kyodo News. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.

12 Comments

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  Altria at 04:53 PM JST - 7th May

  Like pandas can even read...

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  aoto at 05:11 PM JST - 7th May

  why not get a panda from itlay

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  thepossum at 05:14 PM JST - 7th May

  A Panda from "itlay" ??? Can it read ?

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  aoto at 05:18 PM JST - 7th May

  ask fait

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  some14some at 05:25 PM JST - 7th May

  Two New Pandas will be arriving soon...they will read for her.

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  pathat at 05:48 PM JST - 7th May

  Visitors to the zoo wrote farewell messages like ‘‘Good-bye’’ and ‘‘Hope you will be happy in heaven’’ while some children were also seen crying in front of Ling Ling’s photograph.

  They can cry in front of his stuffed body in the future if recent media reports are true.

  Ashes to ashes, Dust to dust, but in Japan, pandas are stuffed.

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  plasticmonkey at 08:23 PM JST - 7th May

  Personally, I think Ling Ling was assassinated to make the Chinese side feel guilty about giving them a panda that didn't live up to Japan's oft-touted high life expectancy.

  In other words, China owes them one.

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  Triple888 at 10:28 PM JST - 7th May

  Japan seems to have problems reproducing humans--we'll see how they do in reproducting pandas in the loan period.

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  European1 at 10:44 PM JST - 7th May

  she should now get citizenship and juminhyo after death.

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  franz75 at 04:27 PM JST - 8th May

  [Fierce Creatures]'s panda will be fine for me.

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  presidentbaka at 09:41 PM JST - 8th May

  10,000 people sign a condolence book for a dead panda... But when some old codger shoots a Japanese bear for wondering around its own habitat, where's the book then?

  10,000 people with no compassion for their own kind, but will happily mourn a bamboo eating wild animal!

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  i0love0japan at 06:33 AM JST - 9th May

  Giant Panda's are amazing creature's and are amazing looking and i would have signed the book and would have been crying because one of my goals in life is to save the giant pandas

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