Adelaide Zoo has announced the names and photographs of two new pandas arriving later this year.

The male panda Xing Qiu and the female panda Yi Lan, both three years old, will leave China in the coming months.

“Xing Qiu means ‘autumn star’. He was born, apparently, under a starry sky in autumn and is described as a very handsome panda,” said Elaine Bensted, director of Zoos SA.

“And Yi Lan means ‘lazy and happy’, which I think is a good description.”

The zoo has signed a 10-year agreement with China to loan the panda pair, at a cost of about $1.5 million per year. The hope is that the new duo will produce offspring.

“Since Premier Li’s visit earlier this year, we have been working closely with our colleagues in China,” said Dr Phil Ainsley, Manager of Conservation Programs.

“What we have done very carefully here is to ensure that the conditions in our bamboo forest match their natural habitat in China as closely as possible.

“We also have specialized indoor facilities where we can control the temperature and humidity to mimic the environment as closely as possible.”

Dr Ainsley described the giant panda as a “global conservation icon” and said continued efforts to maintain and grow the population are vital.

“Giant pandas are one of the few animals in the world whose status has actually improved, according to observations,” Ms Bensted said.

“They’ve gone from critically endangered to vulnerable to extinction. There are more pandas in the wild now than there were 15 years ago when we started our collaboration. To me, that’s an incredibly successful outcome.”

Ms Bensted said the pandas are also a draw for visitors to the zoo and the state.

“We know that giant pandas are incredibly popular. Whenever we do market research, giant pandas are always at the top of the list,” Ms Bensted said.

The announcement was made today at Adelaide Zoo’s latest annual ‘Teddy Bears’ Picnic’, where both pandas celebrated their birthdays – Fu Ni turned 18 on August 23 and Wang Wang turned 19 on August 31.

Visitors to the zoo are invited to bring their favorite teddy bears on August 24 and 25 to attend animal feedings, keeper talks and enrichment activities, including a bubble bath for Wang Wang.

“He’s all bubbly right now, it’s been really cool, really good, really great,” said zoo visitor Blake Horn.

“They are really beautiful, really funny animals.”

Alicia Ladson said she regularly travelled from Melbourne to Adelaide to see the pandas.

“I love coming to see the pandas. This is our sixth or seventh family visit,” she said.

“It’s a bit sad to say goodbye to Wang Wang and Fu Ni, but also exciting at the same time because it means we can come back and see new pandas in Adelaide again and again. So we’ll definitely be back.”

Lucifer Von Luxenberg and his friends said they wanted to say goodbye to Wang Wang and Fu Ni personally.

“(There were) huge crowds… so we were lucky enough to see Wang Wang in all his glory,” he said.

“It was a real pleasure to see Wang Wang outside and blooming in such beautiful weather.”

Alana Hopkins dressed up as a panda for the occasion and said she is a huge panda fan.

“I literally own almost 50 pandas now… so many stuffed animals,” she said.

“I’m very happy to be here with my two best friends. You don’t see a panda every day, so I’m very happy.”

Wang Wang and Fu Ni are expected to return to China by the end of the year.