Indonesia’s first giant panda is set to charm the public
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Satrio Wiratama at the Panda Palace of Taman Safari Indonesia in Bogor, West Java, on May 15.
PHOTO: AFP
- Indonesia's first giant panda cub, Satrio Wiratama (Rio), born November 2025, is thriving at Taman Safari Indonesia and set for his public debut this month.
- Rio, the only panda born outside China in three years, strengthens "panda diplomacy" between China and Indonesia, celebrating 60 years of bilateral ties.
- The 170-day-old cub, weighing over 11kg, is active and learning to climb, symbolising China's diplomatic outreach amidst no maritime disputes.
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BOGOR, Indonesia - With his signature black and white fur, the first giant panda born in Indonesia is growing and thriving ahead of his public debut this month.
Satrio Wiratama was born in November 2025 in Taman Safari Indonesia, a zoo in Cisarua, West Java, to a pair of pandas loaned by China to Indonesia.
“There are so many Indonesians who had to go all the way to China just to see baby pandas. Now they don’t have to anymore,” zoo director Aswin Sumampau told reporters on May 15.
Inside the enclosure built to welcome his parents, the 170-day-old cub, whose name means “brave and noble warrior”, was playing with a panda stuffed toy and a bamboo teether.
His mother, Hu Chun, and his father, Cai Tao, arrived in Indonesia in 2017 when they were both seven years old as part of “panda diplomacy” aimed at celebrating 60 years of bilateral ties between the two countries.
Satrio Wiratama’s name means “brave and noble warrior”.
PHOTO: AFP
Nicknamed Rio, the cub was the only panda born in a zoo outside China in the past three years, Mr Aswin said.
Ahead of his debut later this month, Rio has already amassed many fans who can’t wait to see him.
“The little panda is cute, adorable and totally heart-melting,” a fan wrote on the zoo’s social media page.
Rio currently weighs more than 11 kilograms and is still learning to climb, according to Mr Bongot Huaso Mulia, the veterinarian caring for him.
Satrio Wiratama undergoing a routine health check on May 15.
PHOTO: AFP
The cub, whose coat is still peppered with reddish fur, is very active and still nursing, he said.
China has a long history of using giant pandas – a national icon – in its diplomatic outreach.
Indonesia maintains it has no maritime disputes with China in the South China Sea, unlike other Asian nations, and does not contest ownership of reefs or islets there. AFP
