A giant panda has been donated to Newham LBC in a goodwill gesture by authorities in Beijing.

The creature, called Wal-zhi, could now be incorporated into the opening ceremony. It is unclear whether the artistic director Danny Boyle has been in contact with Wal-zhi yet.

Plans are to hold the panda at Newham City Farm, although lengthy discussions with London Zoo are still continuing.

Wal-zhi is due to be flown to London City Airport this month, in a plane which has been specially chartered from the Chinese capital.

Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales said: ‘This is a wonderful gesture by the Chinese government. Wal-zhi is set to take the Olympics by storm and we have been told he could attract half a million visitors a year.

‘We were planning to house Wal-zhi at our Newham City Farm, just a javelin throw from the Olympic Park in Stratford.

‘However, we have been advised by animal experts that transporting lorry loads of bamboo to Newham might be tricky. Also Giant Pandas tend to live in broadleaf and coniferous forests at an altitude of between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. Torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year characterises these forests, which are often shrouded in heavy clouds.

‘Newham has many wonderful parks and it's true we get the occasional shower, but it could be tough to replicate those conditions.

‘We are also looking at sharing a visitors' fee with much of the proceeds going to my Mayor's trust fund for worthy causes. This is a great example of smart and innovative local government in action.’

Sir Robin added: ‘Host cities need to link up and talk to each other and of course we now all live in a Global Village. That is why we are looking at giving an animal which symbolises East London to Rio de Janeiro where the 2016 Olympics will take place.

‘We are inviting suggestions from our residents. Jellied eels are, of course, a great tradition in this neck of the woods. An idea might be to get the artist Damien Hirst to pickle an eel in Formaldehyde. We could then display this at one of our libraries. The possibilities are limitless.’

There are only about 1,000 giant pandas left in the wild. They typically feed on 28 pounds of bamboo each day.