3 Japanese-born giant pandas to return to China

Three giant pandas born and raised in Japan will return to China in June to start new lives, authorities said today.
The panda twins and their younger sister, born to pandas that are "on loan" from China to Japan, had been living at Adventure World in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture in Japan.
Their new home would be Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in southwest Sichuan province.
The animals' names have been translated into Chinese ones, authorities said.
The male-female twins, called Hai Bang and Yang Bang, were born on August 11, 2010, while their younger sister You Bang was born on August 10, 2012.

The breeding base and the Japanese park commenced a panda breeding research program in 1994. They have successfully bred 15 pandas. Among them, eight have returned to China.
Cubs born to pandas that are "on loan" from China must be returned to China after they reach sexual maturity or when the cooperative agreement ends, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
A national survey released in February 2015 showed that as of the end of 2013, China had 1,864 wild pandas and 375 others living in captivity.