Chengdu Panda Base Opens! Long-Missed ‘Gong Gong’ Pandas Remain Adorable
Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding finally opened its doors on March 25th, and the adorable giant pandas are finally ready to meet the public! After a two-month closure, many people have been eagerly anticipating seeing their long-missed ‘Gong Gong’ () – always hungry, sleepy, and playful. Let’s see if they’ve gotten bigger or smaller!
To ensure visitors have a happy time meeting the giant pandas while maintaining safety, the base held an opening ceremony and other activities to welcome visitors. Following a 2-minute flash performance, 5 lucky visitors were selected to connect with and view the year’s first pair of captive giant panda twins via video link. They also received a panda-themed gift package prepared by the base. These 5 lucky visitors sent their best wishes to the pandas, hoping they would grow up healthy and happy.
Subsequently, with the countdown announced to all attendees, the base’s gates opened, with the long-missed giant pandas appearing in the brilliant spring sunshine. A bubble show performance also took place at the base’s entrance. Reporters witnessed that visitors maintained a safe distance while touring the park, and the entire scene was orderly.
According to related officials, during the closure, the base developed comprehensive protective measures to ensure the safety of the park and the normal conduct of animal feeding and research work. The base immediately stockpiled a large quantity of bamboo, and experts formulated an emergency bamboo feeding plan for the pandas. To prevent human-animal cross-infection, keepers adopted a no-holiday, no-shift work system to ensure the health of animals and personnel, allowing daily operations such as feeding, raising young, environmental enrichment, behavior training, disease control and treatment to proceed normally.
On March 17th, ‘Fuwa’ () gave birth to the year’s first pair of male panda cubs. On March 21st, ‘Zhi Zhi’ () gave birth to a male panda cub. The newborn cubs weighed 159.8g and 119.5g respectively, and ‘Zhi Zhi’’s newborn cub weighed 176.7g. Currently, the three newborn cubs are in good physical condition.
Currently, to ensure safety after the opening, the park’s opening hours are daily from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, and ticket sales will stop at 4:00 pm. Visitors can purchase tickets online, scan QR codes, or buy physical tickets, implementing a ‘one person, one ticket, one ID’ system to limit daily visitor numbers, and continuing to close the Panda Magic Theatre. In addition, daily disinfection is conducted in the park, and keepers closely observe and record the behavior, feeding, drinking, excrement, and mental status of individual animals.
(Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding supplied photo)
