The new pair of giant pandas arrives at a local farm for quarantine
A new pair of giant pandas, given by China’s central government as gifts to the MSAR, arrived yesterday.
“Pandas are rare wild animals, also our national treasure, which are beloved and welcomed by the people around the world as a symbol of peace and harmony. Macau people are eager for their coming,” Secretary for Administration and Justice Sonia Chan said at the airport, where she received the pandas together with about one hundred pupils.
According to Xinhua, a male panda, No. 726, and a female, No. 667, were chosen from 55 candidates following a three-month selection process. Like their predecessors in Macau, the animals, both 110 kilograms in weight, are also named Kaikai and Xinxin, the latter of whom died of kidney failure in June last year.
The local government said Kaikai will return to Chengdu’s Giant Panda Breeding Research Base for a breeding plan. Kaikai and the former Xinxin came to Macau as gifts for the celebration of the 10th anniversary of Macau’s return to China. The luxury pavilion built for them at the Seac Pai Van garden cost around MOP90 million.
Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that the central government would present a pair of giant pandas to the region and, when he visited the MSAR in December 2014, wished that “they would grow up healthily and bring happiness to the Macau people.” MDT/Xinhua
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