KUALA LUMPUR: A giant panda born in a Malaysian zoo celebrated her first birthday yesterday with a cake made of ice in front of adoring visitors.
The adorable antics of the cub named ‘Adik’ clearly delighted visitors at Zoo Negara’s Giant Panda Conservation Centre (GPCC) as she whimsically played with the offerings of ‘ice cakes’ and bamboo shoots dished out for her first birthday celebration.
The youngster looked around shyly as a zookeeper carried her to a platform in her enclosure where the cake, which had a large number “one” on top, was waiting.
After nibbling at some carrots used to decorate the creation, ‘Adik’ seemed to tire of the celebrations, and fell asleep.
Currently weighing 34 kilos, she is the second cub born to Liang Liang and Xing Xing since they were sent from China to Malaysia in 2014, on a 10-year loan.
The first, Nuan Nuan, was born in August 2015 and sent back to China in 2017. Beijing and Kuala Lumpur have agreed that cubs born in captivity must go back to China at the age of two.
The pandas are kept at the national zoo’s panda centre outside Kuala Lumpur.
Zoo Negara’s zoology, veterinary hospital and GPCC director Dr Mat Naim Ramli said ‘Adik’, while still fully nursing, is growing well physically and have occasionally taken to eating bamboo shoots.
“Compared to her older sister Nuan Nuan, Adik is not as adventurous in exploring her surroundings, and shows preference for hanging around the artificial plants and following her mother,” he said to reporters during the cub’s one-year-old birthday celebration. – Agencies
