China News Service, Singapore, December 13 (Xinhua) -- Singaporeans bid farewell to the giant panda "Laklak": "May you bring happiness to more people".
China News Service reporter Wang Peng.
On 13 December, River Safari Singapore hosted a special farewell party featuring a local animal star, the first giant panda born in Singapore, Ratchasima. Thousands of local residents come here to meet "Lakratchasima" before returning to China.
On the morning of December 13, Singaporeans bid farewell to the giant panda "Lak". Photo courtesy of Singapore Mantai Conservation Group).
In 2012, giant pandas Jia Jia and Kai Kai came to Singapore from Sichuan, China, and mated for the first time in 2015, and after years of attempts, Jia Jia was finally born on August 14, 2021 through artificial insemination. Voted for by tens of thousands of Singaporeans, the name "Lak" is derived from Singapore's old name "Le Lak", which means that being born in Singapore will always be happy and carefree.
The baby panda, who was born at 200 grams, has grown to weigh 70 kilograms after more than two years of growth. According to the agreement, after the age of 2, "Lakrat" needs to return to China to participate in the breeding program. After the farewell party on the same day, "Lakratchasima" will undergo a month-long quarantine and repatriation training, and plans to fly back to China on January 16, 2024.
In the morning, after the door of the animal house was opened, "Laklak" paced out. Curious about the paper airplane arranged by the keeper, it opened the "suitcase" and ate the bamboo shoots, completely ignoring the "long guns and short cannons" a few meters away.
On the morning of December 13, the giant panda "Laklak" was seen by the Singapore public for the last time. Photo courtesy of Singapore Mantai Conservation Group).
In order to bid farewell to Lak, the Giant Panda Exhibition Area of the River River Safari Park has set up photo spots and mailboxes to drop farewell letters. A 6-year-old Singaporean girl, Lim Yi Anthra, came to meet "Laklak" and painted a portrait of "Laklak", "I came to send 'Laklak' today, hoping that it will be happy when it returns to China." She shyly told a reporter from China News Service.
12-year-old Rao Jiaying also came with her parents early in the morning and deliberately put on a panda T-shirt. Since the birth of "Laklak", Rao Jiaying has been visiting it regularly. "You have brought happiness to Singapore, and I hope that when you return to China, you will bring happiness to more people. Rao Jiaying has been to Chengdu and volunteered for a day in Chengdu's Dujiangyan Panda Valley.
For the breeding team, since the date for the return of Ratchasa to China was set a month ago, their preparations began to train Ratchasis to live independently without their mothers.
Dr. Tsang Boon Ho, vice president of life sciences and operations and chief life sciences officer and veterinary doctor of Singapore Manstate Conservation Group, said that according to natural Xi, giant panda cubs will be driven away by their mothers after they are 2 years old and live independently. Now that "Laklak" has adapted to independent living, "it is like a college student who is leaving his mother to go to college and start his own life journey." ”
Ratchasima has a calm personality, is very intelligent, receives training quickly, and can adapt to new environments. Cheng Tingni, deputy animal manager of Mantai Conservation Group of Singapore, who is responsible for taking care of Lak, said that after five recent trainings, Lak Ratchasima has adapted to the environment of the transport box and is able to eat and rest in it, thus reducing the pressure of long-distance transportation, "Once I opened the transport box, it didn't even want to come out and slept in it for 40 minutes." ”
As the closest person to "Lakrachasima", Zheng Tingni said with a smile that "more than two years have come to see 'Lakrat' than to see her own children". She will also be sent back to China by plane, "I am very happy to accompany him into another stage of growth, and the Chinese breeders will definitely take good care of him." ”
On the morning of December 13, the giant panda "Laklak" was seen by the Singapore public for the last time. Photo courtesy of Singapore Mantai Conservation Group).
Because I'm busy preparing for the process of going back to Lakrat, I won't think too much about it, and when I come back to Singapore from Chengdu and see that Lak Lak is not there, I will definitely be sad at that time. Zheng Tingni said.
China's Giant Panda Breeding Program leverages the power of ex situ and in-situ conservation partners, and we work together. Zeng Wenhao revealed that after "Lak" returns to China, they will continue to take care of "Kaikai" and "Jiajia", and plan to let "Jiajia" recuperate for a year next year, and then discuss with Chinese giant panda experts to see if they will continue to breed next.
Singapore's location in the equatorial region, where the climate and sunshine hours are different from those of countries with four seasons, provide a new perspective for giant panda conservation and breeding research. Therefore, in recent years, Singapore has published a number of cooperative research papers with China, such as the relationship between panda reproduction and photoperiod.
Qin Wen, Cultural Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore, also affirmed the positive role that "Lakchasima" has brought to the two countries in biodiversity conservation, "Just last week, China and Singapore announced that they will exempt each other from visas, and more Chinese tourists will come to Singapore to visit 'Jiajia' and 'Kaikai' in the future, and Singaporean friends will visit 'Lakrat' in Chengdu, China." ENDS).