Singapore Zoo preps for China pandas
By Channel NewsAsia's China Correspondent Glenda
Chong | Posted: 17 May 2010 2017
hrs
SICHUAN : Singapore is preparing to welcome two pandas
from China in August next year.
On loan for a 10-year period, they will go on display at the River
Safari attraction at the Singapore Zoo.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore, which owns the attraction, also
intends to start a breeding programme of the endangered
species.
Two-year-old Hu Bao is playful and affectionate, while
three-year-old Wujie is strong and stable.
They are the two panda cubs that will be making Singapore home next
year.
Currently staying at Bifengxia Panda Base, zoo keepers are
preparing them for their move.
"They are very healthy and in excellent condition. Both are lively
and vigorous. Our main goal now is to ensure they grow healthier.
This is a critical period for their growth and development as they
are in their adolescence," said Le De Sheng, deputy director of the
National Nature Reserve Wuolong in Sichuan Province.
They are still on a diet of milk, steamed bread roll and bamboo,
but will eventually be weaned off milk.
Pandas are notoriously known to be fussy eaters - there are about
40 different types of bamboo for them to choose from.
And the pair appear to have acquired a taste for Singapore
cuisine.
"Singapore has sent some sample bamboo to us. The pandas had a
'food-tasting' and accepted the bamboos," said Huang Shan, a zoo
keeper at Bifengxia Panda Base.
The Singapore Zoo will be planting an 8,000-square metre of bamboo
plantation just for the pandas.
Besides diet, pandas are also sensitive to climate and
environment.
"Singapore is hotter than Sichuan, so our main task now is helping
them adapt. The best solution is for Singapore to make adjustments.
Giant pandas live in temperatures lower than 25 degrees Celsius,"
said Huang.
With that in mind, Wildlife Reserves Singapore is building a
climate-controlled enclosure that will closely simulate the panda's
natural habitat.
It is also planning to start a breeding programme of the endangered
species.
And Chinese zoo keepers are confident the pandas will mate,
although they have yet to meet.
Huang said: "It should be 100% successful breeding. Their
reproduction abilities are normal, and as long as conditions are
right, and the female is ready, they can mate.
"The first time will probably not be successful. But when they are
7 or 8 years old, the success rate of conceiving will be
higher."
It has been reported that the San Diego Zoo spent US$30 million to
care for their pandas over 10 years.
Property firm Capitaland will be the sponsor and conservation donor
of the Giant Panda Conservation Programme in Singapore - with
significant donations over the 10-year period.
The pandas will be housed in the zoo's new attraction - River
Safari - and will only greet visitors in early 2012.
Singapore is the 7th country to receive pandas on loan from
China.
The cute envoys are symbolic of the close relationship between
Singapore and China as both sides celebrate the 20th anniversary of
Sino-Singapore relations this year. - CNA /ls
