But are the Oakland hills a desirable place for the rare, prized and popular black-and-white bears from China's Sichuan Province? Do conditions in the East Bay lend themselves to happy, healthy pandas? Experts at zoos with pandas believe the answer could be a resounding yes.

"Oakland seems to have the climate you would need," said Jinping Yu, a conservation biologist who works with Zoo Atlanta's two panda bears. "Pandas have strict temperature requirements, but Oakland seems to have a good climate."

Yu said the bears like a temperature between 65 and 69 degrees. Oakland's climate also would allow the zoo to grow bamboo, the main component of a panda's diet. Adult giant panda bears can eat upwards of 80 pounds of the plants' shoots daily.

"Bamboo is so low in nutrients, pandas have to eat a lot of it to get their daily fill of everything," said Joel Parrott, executive director at the Oakland Zoo. "You need a lot of it on hand. But we could grow it here."

According to Yu, you don't need just a lot of it, but many different species of it to keep the pandas happy and eating. If the pandas don't have the variety, they become more susceptible to problems such as stunted growth. At Zoo Atlanta, the bears are given about 200 pounds of bamboo a day. The zoo, with its hot southern climate, receives the astronomical amount of bamboo it needs from donations from a select group of farmers who grow it around the Atlanta area.

The amount of daily bamboo is amazing considering adult pandas only weigh on average of around 220 pounds and reach only five to six feet in length. A newborn averages a meager two-tenths to three-tenths of a pound.

Despite the comparable numbers in size and stature to the more common black bear, pandas have acquired a label as fragile and delicate. Some of this may be a result of the massive media attention they garner in this country over troubles adjusting to zoos in the U.S. and reproducing here.

"I don't think pandas are necessarily delicate," said Ron Swaisgood, a scientist researcher who works with the pandas at the San Diego Zoo. "Breeding can be a challenge because they mate once a year, but that is not uncommon in bears."

Giant panda bears are in fact part of the bear family -- unlike the red panda, which belongs to the raccoon family -- and females come into estrus only once a year, with peak fertility lasting only two to seven days. According to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, 50 litters producing 77 cubs have been born in captivity. Of those, 49 cubs have survived.

"You have a very small window of opportunity for breeding every year," Parrott said. "That's why you hear of so many problems breeding at zoos. It's a challenge, but it's been done."

All aspects of panda care present challenges, but one everyone at the Oakland Zoo seems more than willing to take them on.

"They are the ultimate symbol of endangered species," Parrott said. "It obviously would be a great opportunity."