Singapore panda fans bid farewell
Crowds say goodbye as beloved cub makes final public appearance before departing to China
For the last four months, Singaporean Lu Yi has been religiously visiting River Wonders every weekend to watch giant panda cub Le Le for hours on end at the river-themed wildlife park.
The 44-year-old loves observing Le Le munch on bamboo shoots, play with his mother and tumble down a slope. She and her other pandaenthusiast friends often trade videos and photos of the panda, even going to the extent of custom-making panda T-shirts. Some of them also upload their videos on the YouTube and Douyin online platforms.
“Watching Le Le helps me relieve stress. When I look at him, I feel very happy and relaxed … I’m very sad to see Le Le leaving Singapore and will dearly miss him,” said Lu, who works in administrative support.
Lu was among the around thousand visitors who turned up on Dec 13 to bid farewell to the two-year-old Le Le on his last day in his exhibit at
the Pavilion Capital Giant Panda Forest section at the River Wonders park.
Le Le, the first panda to be born in the city-state, will be entering a month-long quarantine to prepare for his departure to China on Jan 16.
Visitors started arriving as early as 8 am, two hours before River Wonders opened its doors.
Throughout the day, hundreds of panda fans, families, and visitors thronged the exhibit, sporting panda T-shirts, hairclips, earrings, and bags, while capturing Le Le on their mobile phones. They watched Le Le explore his enclosure, as he snacked on bamboo and carrot sticks that keepers had hidden under decorative paper planes and inside boxes resembling cardboard suitcases.
Le Le was born in 2021 via artificial insemination after his parents, Jia Jia and Kai Kai, failed to mate naturally. His parents arrived in Singapore in 2012 on loan from China. Under the arrangement, their offspring would be sent to China after reaching a certain age to join the country’s giant panda conservation program.
At a farewell event, Mike Barclay,
group CEO at Mandai Wildlife Group, which operates the River Wonders park, said they were honored to be Le Le’s custodian for just over two years.
“Le Le has been a wonderful ambassador for his species, helping to raise awareness regarding the threats that giant pandas face in the wild, and allowing us to highlight the excellent work being undertaken in China to conserve his species,” he said.
He fondly recalled the day that Mandai’s veterinarian team said Jia Jia was pregnant, just five days before she gave birth on Aug 14, 2021. Since then, 1.8 million visitors from Singapore and around the world have visited Le Le, he said.
The farewell event was graced by Qin Wen, cultural counselor at the Chinese embassy in Singapore. The official thanked Singapore for the love and care in looking after Le Le and the giant panda family.
She added: “I think that after Le Le goes to China, as far as I know, there will be another month-long quarantine for him. So, if all goes well, he will meet the public around Chinese New Year.”
Qin was joined by the management of Mandai Wildlife Group as well as Pavilion Capital and Singapore Airlines in presenting the public with a community-centric memento of the beloved bear.
Mandai Wildlife Group deputy chief executive and chief life sciences officer Cheng Wen-Haur said: “China’s giant panda program is a great example of the One Plan Approach that leverages the strengths of ex-situ and in-situ partners in collaborative efforts. We are honored to contribute as a zoological institution, and we look forward to continuing this important work.”
“We have watched our giant panda cub grow into the confident, inquisitive, and independent bear that he is today. He is adored by all who have had the privilege of caring for him and we are excited to celebrate with him in his continuing role as an ambassador for his species. It is so heartening to see people of all walks of life coming together for Le Le, and cheering him on in the next chapter of his life,” he added.
His travel essentials include an
in-flight meal consisting of up to 50 kilograms of bamboo, bamboo shoots, fruit, pellets, and water.
The ambient cabin temperature will be maintained between 15 C and 16 C, consistent with the temperature of Le Le’s habitat in Singapore. To ensure his in-flight care and wellbeing, Le Le will be accompanied by a keeper and veterinarian from Mandai Wildlife Group, as well as a keeper from China who will travel to Singapore for the transition involving Le Le’s care regime. After Le Le arrives in Chengdu, he will be transported to a quarantine facility in Huaying, Guang’an city, Sichuan province.
For some visitors at the Singapore park, it is not a final goodbye, as they intend to visit the panda cub after his relocation to China.
Among them is Li Yan, a Chinese national living in Singapore. She said, “Le Le is very round and cute. He’s so lively, active, and intelligent … Looking at him makes me feel like the world is a warm place.”