Bronx Zoo Readies for Stampede of 2 Million to View Giant Pandas
NEW YORK — The Bronx Zoo is bracing for a human stampede it expects to follow the arrival of two giant pandas.
The zoo anticipates as many as 2 million people will come to see Ling Ling and Yong Yong, lent by China and on display April 30 through July 31.
The beloved but endangered panda is “the Rembrandt of the animal world,” said William Conway, general director of the New York Zoological Society, which runs the zoo.
Tickets to see the pandas--only one will be on display each day--will be designated for specific hours to ease congestion, Conway said, estimating that up to 1,800 people will get to see the pandas every hour.
Proceeds from ticket sales will go to the Chinese effort to protect the pandas, which occur naturally only in China.
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