Taman Safari in Cisarua, West Java, released a video showing the progress of a giant panda cub 40 days after his birth in the country.
The panda named Satrio Wiratama and nicknamed “Rio” was examined for the first time outside the incubator while veterinarians took his measurements. The video shows Rio’s growth from a tiny pink baby to a panda with black and white fur.
“The panda cub is developing healthily and growing very well. Its body weight has increased by 46% over the past 30 days, while its body length has increased by 95%,” said Bongot Huaso Mulia, a veterinarian who monitors Rio.
Rio was born on Nov 27 to Hu Chun, a 15-year-old adult female, and Cai Tao. The pair arrived in Indonesia in 2017 on a 10-year conservation partnership with China. They live in an enclosure built for them at the park about 70km from Jakarta.
Rio’s birth was the result of the fourth artificial insemination.
“So we tried natural mating four times first, followed by four rounds of artificial insemination. It really was not easy,” Mulia said.
Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are welcomed. There are fewer than 1,900 giant pandas in their only wild habitats in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu.
“This is the moment we’ve been waiting for. After years of hard work, finally we’ve got real. The baby panda is joining the global panda family,” China’s Ambassador to Indonesia Wang Lutong said. — AP
