US capital set to poach Chinese emblem in bid for statehood

The very idea is enough to make a Chinese panda lover's blood boil. The city of Washington, capital of the United States, is eagerly searching for a suitable animal to become its official symbol. And it appears that the giant panda is rapidly making its cuddly way towards the top of the list of candidates.

Such a suggestion may sound bizarre to the people of China, which has long used the panda as its national symbol. But the chairman of the city council of the District of Columbia, Linda Cropp, supports the idea.

'The panda ought to be a strong possibility for the city's representative animal,' she said. 'The official animal chosen really should be what captures the imagination of the children and makes them feel good - and the panda does that.'

The fact that the bamboo-loving, tree-dwelling creature is not native to Washington, or to the US, has not gone unnoticed.

But growing numbers of supporters of the idea point to the fact that there are three panda residents at the National Zoo, located at the northern edge of the district, and all three are wildly popular with Washingtonians.

While the adult male panda, Tian Tian, and his mate, Mei Xiang, were both born in Sichuan province , they have been living at the zoo for more than six years. Their 10-month-old cub, Tai Shan, was born at the zoo, technically making him an American citizen.