Yahoo – AFP,
August 8, 2017
The Hague
(AFP) - Two multi-layered "cakes" made from ice, vegetable juice and
fruit greeted a pair of giant pandas at a Dutch zoo Tuesday for their first
birthday party since arriving from China.
Female Wu
Wen (Beautiful Powerful Cloud) and her male companion Xing Ya (Elegant Star)
both turn four this month and officials at the Ouwehands Dierenpark in the
central town of Rheenen decided to throw a joint party.
"At
first they both approached the cakes with caution, with the male panda giving
his an exploratory lick," said animal biologist Jose Kok.
"Then
they became curious and realised 'hang on, this is something nice in my
enclosure' and not long after that, the cake's layers were separated," Kok
told AFP with a laugh.
It took a
week to prepare the icy treats, which where also layered with the pandas'
favourite food: bamboo shoots.
The two
panda "superstars" arrived in The Netherlands in mid-April after an
8,000 kilometre (5,000 mile) journey from China, following years of
negotiations in what has been dubbed "panda diplomacy".
Officials
decided to hold their birthday on August 8, the eighth day of the eighth
month,
figures which according to Chinese culture means good luck (AFP Photo/
Remko DE
WAAL)
|
Male panda
Xing Ya turned four on August 5, while Wu Wen was born on August 11.
Officials
decided to hold their birthday on August 8, the eighth day of the eighth month,
figures which according to Chinese culture means good luck, Kok said.
Dozens of
delighted visitors were also treated to a real birthday cake in the form of a
giant panda.
The two
pandas will be housed at the zoo for the next 15 years and for now are being
kept in two separate enclosures, specially built for them at a price of seven
million euros ($8 million).
But Kok
said it is hoped that the two bears would mate within the next year to help
replenish global panda numbers.
Some 1,864
pandas remain in the wild in China, an increase from around 1,000 in the late
1970s, according to the environmental group WWF.
And just
over 400 pandas live in zoos around the world, in conservation projects set up
with Beijing.
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