ID :
374790
Mon, 07/20/2015 - 07:04
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Giant Pandas Xing-Xing And Liang Liang Adapting Well To Malaysia

By Soon Li Wei KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 (Bernama) -- It has been a year since the giant pandas Xing Xing and Liang Liang “migrated” to Malaysia, to mark 40 years of diplomatic ties between Malaysia and China. The pair seems to have adapted comfortably to their new home at the Giant Panda Conservation Centre (GPCC) in Zoo Negara. According to the Malaysian Zoological Association Deputy Chairman Rosly@Rahmat Amat Lana, the pair had received 360,719 visitors since the opening of the conservation centre on June 25, 2014. “Their presence has contributed to an increase of some 500,000 visitors to Zoo Negara, 60 percent of whom came to see them,” he said to Bernama. Nonetheless, the pair seemed unperturbed by the number of daily visitors as they carried on with their daily habits. “Visitors have been told to be quiet and not use their flash when taking photos. However, some of them do not comply with these instructions and these put the panda at unease,” he said. ADAPTING WELL Rosly said in the beginning, the male panda Xing Xing seemed more active than his female partner. Liang Liang was the more reserved one during the first few months at the Malaysian conservation centre. “However, after a year, Liang Liang seemed to have adapted to her new home and has become more active than Xing Xing,” he said. He said pandas were solitary creatures and could live within a defined territory without socialising with others. “Pandas will go through the mating process once a year during a brief breeding season. “So far, this pair has only gathered twice but did not mate and Xing Xing seemed to have “reservations”, compared with Liang Liang, who is as active as usual,” he explained. Rosly said there had also been continual improvements made to the pandas’ living conditions as well as visitor experience. “The landscape of the exhibition area is always changing with the planting of new trees and enrichment activities for the pandas,” he said. FIT AND HEALTHY Both pandas have yet to experience any health issues in the past year, with their health monitored daily. “We have four veterinarians providing care for the pair,” he said. Zoo Negara Veterinary Officer Dr Soon Xue Qi said the pandas would undergo a health examination a day before they were released into the exhibition area. “Xing Xing, the male panda, weighs between 121-125kg while Liang Liang is between 105-110kg. “They are fed six times a day with some 30kg of food comprising bamboo, apples, carrots, pears and panda cake,” she said. Dr Soon said that the only problem experienced by the pandas in the past year was several instances of diarrhoea. “Just like humans, pandas tend to fall sick when they overeat or consumed something unsuitable,” she explained. As the animals are from China, the centre constantly monitors the temperature and weather in the country and modifies the environment in the centre to match its country of origin. “It is summer now in China, so we will modify the temperature in the exhibition area to 22 degrees Celsius in the daytime and 17 degrees Celsius at night,” she said. ENTRY FEES Rosly said the admission fee into the conservation centre is RM20 (US$5.25) for adults, RM10 (US$2.63) for children and RM15 (US$3.94) for senior citizens. Entry is free for the disabled. “The fee is reasonable compared with that charged by neighbouring countries,” he said. Xing Xing and Liang Liang were both born on Aug 23, 2006 in Wolong, Sichuan, China. The conservation centre where the pair is currently was launched by the Prime Minister Najib Razak on June 25, last year. During the launch, Najib also announced the new names for the pair. Fu Wa, the male panda, was named Xing Xing which means Prosperity, while the female panda Feng Yi was called Liang Liang or Pretty. (photoBERNAMA) -- BERNAMA

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