Singapore gets first glimpse of China-loaned giant pandas
By Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 13 November 2009 1657 hrs

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SINGAPORE: China Wildlife Conservation Association has released the photographs of the two giant pandas which will make their way to Singapore in 2011 under a research loan from the Chinese government.

The 10-year loan of the pandas is also to mark 20 years of China-Singapore relations.

The male panda is just two years old and his female companion is only one.

They were specially chosen for their ability to breed, and they will be housed in an air-conditioned enclosure at the new River Safari exhibit at the Singapore Zoo.

The new attraction by Wildlife Reserves Singapore will open in 2011.

The pandas' diet consists mainly of bamboo. They consume some 20 kilogrammes of bamboo a day.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore officials will be growing six different bamboo species for the pandas' consumption.

- CNA/ir