The minders of giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia threw a birthday bash for them at River Safari as they marked the fourth year of their arrival at the tourist attraction today (Sep 12).
Kai Kai celebrates his ninth birthday today, while female Jia Jia turned eight recently on Sep 3.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore
It took their keepers four days to create their birthday ‘cakes’ which weighed 7kg collectively. Sweetened with honey, the frozen treats were embellished with apple and carrot slices, which are some of their favourite snacks.
Both pandas arrived at River Safari in 2012 on a 10-year loan from China.
Kai Kai and Jia Jia entered their second mating season in April earlier this year, but both natural mating and artificial insemination had not been successful.
But keepers and the zoo’s vet remain optimistic for a future Singapore panda cub as Jia Jia is still very young (teenager in human years), said a statement from Wildlife Reserves Singapore.
They will continue to employ breeding techniques that had proven to be successful at other zoos, it added.
chenj@sph.com.sg
Wildlife Reserves Singapore, The Straits Times, The New Paper, My Paper, Berita Harian
