Sorry, no pandas, how about some golden monkeys?

November 21, 2002

BEIJING - Los Angeles yesterday lost out in its bid to bring a pair of

pandas to the city's zoo, with Mayor Jim Hahn instead using a high-profile

trip to China to secure a family of rare golden hair monkeys.

Mr Hahn signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Wildlife

Conservation Association to begin talks on bringing up to four of the

endangered monkeys to the Los Angeles Zoo within three to six months.

'The golden hair monkey is a very beautiful animal, when they arrive in Los

Angeles you will be able to see for yourselves how pretty these little boys

and girls are,' gushed Mr Chen Renshen, head of the wildlife association.

However pretty the monkeys, they do not match the guaranteed box-office gold

of giant pandas, which draw huge crowds whenever they are lent out to zoos

outside China.

In recent panda exchanges, China has normally asked for about US$1 million

(S$1.77 million) cash to aid conservation efforts.

But if Los Angeles is to secure its pair, it will most likely have to hand

over significantly more, a leading panda expert said.

Mayor Hahn said the deal for the monkeys would entail 'technical and

financial assistance', while indicating that the monkeys were the first step

in a process which will bring a pair of pandas to Los Angeles Zoo. --AFP

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