THREE giant panda cubs from Sichuan Province moved into their new home at the Shanghai Wild Animals Park over the weekend, giving the park the largest panda population of any such facility in China.

The three cubs, all males, have joined three adult pandas, one male and two females, already living in the park.

The two-year-old cubs, raised in the Sichuan Wolong Panda Research Center, started to meet the public at the Nanhui District park yesterday.

It's the first time the Wolong panda center has sent young pandas out as a group to live elsewhere.

Attendant Xu Yalin from the research center accompanied the pandas throughout their journey and will care for them for six months in Shanghai to help them adapt to their new environment.

A panda habitat covering more than 1,500 square meters has been set up in the park at a cost of 500,000 yuan (US$61,000). The habitat has an air-conditioning system that will keep the habitat between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius.

"We also bought insurance for the three cubs," said park vice president Fei Zhenqing, adding policies cost 200,000 yuan for each panda.

Fei said the park only accepted male cubs because it isn't authorized to breed the animals. So far nation's major panda breeding base is in Wolong.

But the park will soon apply for breeding authorization, according to Fei.

Pandas eat between 2-4 kilograms of bamboo a day, plus milk, eggs and vitamins.

With the Shanghai 2010 World Expo approaching, the pandas will join the mascot selection process, according to park officials.

Late year, there were 183 giant pandas living in captivity in the country.

It is estimated that there are about 1,500 giant pandas living in captivity and the wild in China. About 70 percent of the county's panda population lives in the Wolong panda center.