S’pore-born giant panda cub Le Le makes first public appearance in China

Le Le has been in China for about two months and has settled down at the panda base. PHOTO: WEIBO

SINGAPORE – After arriving in China almost two months ago, giant panda cub Le Le is finally in the public eye again.

The Singapore-born panda, who is turning three in August, on March 7 made his first public appearance at Dujiangyan Panda Base in Sichuan, China.

In a video posted on Weibo on March 8 by the Consulate-General of the Republic of Singapore in Chengdu, Chengdu Consul-General Joel Tan said Le Le has been in China for about two months and has settled down at the panda base.

Mr Tan also said in the video, which is more than two minutes long and has been played 34,000 times, that Le Le is adjusting well.

The video shows Le Le exiting a den gingerly and exploring his new home, which he is sharing with sibling pair Qingzai and Qingbao – his new friends from the Wolong panda research centre.

A panda keeper said in the video that Le Le eats about 25kg of bamboo leaves, 5kg of bamboo shoots, 1kg of carrots and 1kg of wowotou a day. Wowotou is a cake-like feed made of corn, rice and soya beans fed to captive pandas in China.

Le Le was previously serving his second round of quarantine – which was said to be about 30 days long – in Huaying in Sichuan province.

Some netizens commented that they miss Le Le, while others told Le Le to get along with the sibling pair.

In another video posted by a netizen on Weibo, Le Le is seen playing with Qingzai, and they are covered in leaves. One netizen expressed hope that Qingbao can get along with Le Le too, and that Le Le is friendly.

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