When panda keeper Sim Pei Ying saw Le Le for the first time in August 2021, he was just a "cute, tiny, pink" cub barely bigger than a mouse.
The cub was "palm-sized", said Ms Sim, a senior keeper at Mandai Wildlife Group who has been taking care of the River Wonders' giant pandas for the past decade.
Two years on, Le Le has reached adolescence, growing into a playful panda cub with a taste for bamboo, carrots and apples.
Watching him grow and mature is a thing of pride for Le Le's keepers, but it is also bittersweet, as it means the cub will have to move to China, where he will join the country's panda-breeding programme.
Le Le, who was born to father Kai Kai and mother Jia Jia on Aug 14, 2021, will leave for China on Jan 16, 2024. The last day the public can see him is Dec 13.
The Straits Times interviewed two keepers from the animal care team at River Wonders ahead of Le Le's departure, and they shared fond memories of their time caring for the first panda cub to be born in Singapore.
Under the terms of Chinese panda loan agreements, cubs born on foreign soil are usually returned to China when they turn two.
Bu hikaye The Straits Times dergisinin December 06, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye The Straits Times dergisinin December 06, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
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