Panda fever grips South Korea as new twins wait to make debut; beloved cub Fu Bao expected to return to China
South Korea’s giant panda family has recent expanded to five with the birth of a pair of twin cubs.
Panda cubs Rui Bao (left) and Hui Bao, were born at South Korea's Everland theme park. (Photo: AFP/Jung Yeon-je)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
YONGIN, South Korea: Panda fever is gripping South Korea as visitors flock to see beloved giant panda cub Fu Bao amid reports she could soon return to China.
Fu Bao is the first giant panda born in South Korea.
Her parents Ai Bao and Le Bao gave birth to her in 2020, four years after they arrived in the country on a 15-year loan from China.
Under an agreement between the two nations, any offspring of the two pandas have to be returned to China before turning four years old.
Fu Bao will be turning four on Jul 20 next year.
Since her birth, the lively cub has been the star of the Everland theme park in Yongin, near Seoul.
Every day, about 8,000 fans throng to the theme park – the largest in South Korea – to see her.
To avoid overcrowding, only 80 people are allowed around her enclosure at a time, and they get just five minutes to gaze and take pictures.
“I always watch Fu Bao videos before I go to sleep because they are so cute and when I watch them, they make me happy,” one visitor told CNA. “The last time I was here, I only saw a sleeping panda. So I am back today to spend the whole day here.”
Theme park officials said the cub’s popularity has surged since May amid anticipation of her impending departure.
A television show chronicling Fu Bao’s antics with her zookeeper Kang Chul-won, affectionately called the cub’s “Grandpa” by South Koreans, has captured the nation’s heart.
Clips of Mr Kang bringing Fu Bao handmade toys and playing together in the enclosure have also gone viral on social media.
NEW TWIN PANDA CUBS
However, panda mania is not expected to die down even after Fu Bao leaves as the giant panda family recently expanded to five members.
Her younger sisters – a pair of twins – were born in July. Cubs Hui Bao and Rui Bao were born hours apart – with one weighing 180g and the other 140g.
They are currently being kept away from the crowds to allow their mother Ai Bao some privacy as she nurses her babies.
Fans have been taking to social media platforms since their birth, saying they hope to visit the newborns as soon as possible.
SALES OF PANDA MERCH SOAR
The theme park said sales of giant panda related souvenirs jumped about 80 per cent in the second half of this year, after the twins’ birth, compared to March and April.
A pop-up store inside a Seoul department store in November attracted about 20,000 visitors who bought merchandise worth about 10 billion won (US$7.6 million) in just two weeks.
"The panda dolls are the prettiest. I would also like to buy all the keyrings, but I might not do so because they are a bit expensive,” said a shopper, beaming as she browsed.
Theme park officials would not reveal how much it costs to care for the pandas. They said food is not expensive because bamboo, the pandas' daily diet, is grown locally in South Korea.
However, there is an annual fee of US$1 million paid to China for the pair of panda parents since their arrival in the nation. There is also a much lower one-time fee for the locally-born baby pandas.
