CHESTER Zoo officials say it is 'unlikely but not impossible' that they may be chosen to care for Britain's only giant panda.
Circulating reports have said that the zoo could be given the animal by the Chengdu Panda Breeding Station in China. Chester Zoo has recently forged strong links with the conservation group by signing a twinning arrangement.
Chengdu announced last month that it intends to donate one of its panda cubs to a European zoo but Chris Vere said there is no telling when or where that will be.
He said: 'It is not something that looks likely to happen in the near future.
'We would be delighted. But the Chinese have very long planning times and if it is going to happen then I wouldn't think it would for 10 or 20 years.'
Chengdu Panda Breeding Association is a leading organisation to save the lives of giant pandas, an endangered species.
There are thought to be less than a 1,000 of the animals around the world and Chengdu aim to increase the population before eventually releasing the panda to the wild.
Currently there are no pandas at Chester Zoo.
