The first giant panda cub born in Indonesia is noisy, nursing well and showing other signs of good health, the conservation park where he was born said on Sunday.
Indonesian Safari Park released video and photos showing the fuzzy newborn in an incubator, and squirming and squealing while being cuddled by his mother.
The mother, 15-year-old Hu Chun, gave birth to Satrio Wiratama — nicknamed Rio — on Nov. 27 at the park in Cisarua, West Java Province.
Photo: Taman Safari Indonesia via AP
The name symbolizes the hope, resilience, and shared commitment of Indonesia and China in protecting endangered species, the park said in a statement.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto announced the baby panda’s name on Thursday and showed his photo when he met Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧).
Rio is stable and showing healthy early signs such as strong vocalization, effective nursing and steady weight gain while being monitored constantly. He is expected to develop better temperature control, fur growth, open his eyes and move more in the next several weeks.
The park said it was prioritizing the health and welfare of the mother and baby, and that he would not yet be accessible to the public.
The adult pandas, Cai Tao and Hu Chun, arrived in Indonesia in 2017 on a 10-year conservation partnership with China. They live in an enclosure built for them at the park about 70km from Jakarta.
Pandas are widely considered as China’s unofficial mascot and its loans of the animals to overseas zoos have long been seen as a tool of Beijing’s soft-power diplomacy, also known as “panda diplomacy.”
Giant pandas have difficulty breeding and births are particularly welcomed. There are fewer than 1,900 giant pandas in their only wild habitats in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu.
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