Visitors queue to catch glimpse of Singapore’s first panda cub Le Le

Members of the public taking photos of panda cub Le Le on Dec 30, 2021. ST PHOTO: FELINE LIM
Panda cub Le Le at the River Wonders' Giant Panda Forest nursery on Dec 30, 2021. ST PHOTO: FELINE LIM
(From left) Mandai Wildlife Group deputy CEO of life sciences and operations Cheng Wen-Haur, Chinese Ambassador to Singapore Hong Xiaoyong, Mandai Park Holdings deputy chairman Tan Chuan-Jin and Chinese cultural counsellor Qin Wen unveiling Le Le's nursery on Dec 30, 2021. ST PHOTO: FELINE LIM

SINGAPORE - Half an hour before Le Le, the first panda cub born in Singapore, was to meet Singaporeans, the queue outside the Giant Panda Forest had already stretched beyond 100m, all the way to the viewing deck.

However, that did not deter visitors like Sharmaine Tan, 15, and her older sister, Sharlene, who were among those who caught a glimpse of the baby panda when he made his public debut on Thursday (Dec 30) in his new glass-fronted nursery at the Giant Panda Forest at River Wonders.

Having never seen a baby panda in real life, the Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School student was amazed and glad she got a chance to do so.

“I think the baby panda is really cute and it seems very ‘hyper’ as well,” she said.

Le Le was born to giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia on Aug 14 - their firstborn since they arrived in Singapore in 2012 on loan from Chengdu, China.

Weighing just an estimated 200g at birth, he was 9.62kg on Wednesday.

The cub’s name, derived from an old Chinese term “shi le po” - referring to Singapore - was jointly announced on Wednesday (Dec 29).

Visitors to River Wonders - formerly known as River Safari - can watch the cub playing, learning to walk more confidently or sleeping.

The public can view the cub twice a day, at about 10.30am and 3.30pm. Each viewing session will last 20 to 30 minutes, said Mandai Wildlife Group.

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On Thursday (Dec 30) at the Giant Panda Forest at River Wonders, members of the public were able to see the first Singapore-born panda cub, Le Le.

On Thursday, River Wonders unveiled the cub’s nursery.

Mr Hong Xiaoyong, China’s Ambassador to Singapore, and Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, deputy chairman of Mandai Park Holdings, were among the first visitors.

As part of safe management measures, River Wonders staff ensured that people were queuing in an orderly fashion while maintaining a 1m distance between one another.

Within the Giant Panda Forest, which had a maximum capacity of about 100 visitors at a time, visitors were not allowed to linger in one location so as to allow the line outside to move at a regular pace.

When Le Le was finally unveiled at around 3.30pm, excited visitors in the gift shop located next to the nursery started crowding near the entrance of the store, attempting to snap photos of the baby panda.

A staff member asked people in the crowd to disperse so that they would not block the exit to the Giant Panda Forest, which was on the other end of the gift shop.

Other visitors who were still in the Giant Panda Forest were allowed a brief window of time to take pictures with Le Le before they were asked to move on to the gift shop.

Student Sharmaine had been following Le Le’s journey for the past year, after hearing from her family members about Jia Jia and Kai Kai’s attempts to conceive.

“It’s a miracle that this actually happened,” she said.

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Another visitor who had planned to see the pandas was Ms Goh Meow Lee, 57, who was at River Wonders with her sister and elderly father.

She had also been keeping up with news on Le Le’s journey ever since his birth, through Facebook posts.

Ms Goh, who used her SingapoRediscovers Vouchers to purchase tickets to River Wonders, said “it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to see the baby panda.

However, she was reconsidering the decision to enter the Giant Panda Forest after seeing the long lines outside the entrance.

“Due to my father’s leg pain, we’re not sure if we want to join the queue,” she said.

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Mr Sadali Mohamed Tali, 48, was also on a family outing to River Wonders with his wife and three daughters.

The senior avian keeper said that when he told his youngest daughter they were going to see the baby panda, she became very excited.

“It’s something unique, so we want to see it for the first time,” he said.

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