BEIJING (AP) – Ten pandas made their public debut in the Chinese panda reserve on Wednesday morning to mark the coming Lunar New Year.
One appeared shy and covered her face with both paws when she saw the crowd, while another was wrong and crawled away from her porter before being caught.
The panda is between 4 and 6 months old and all resulted from natural mating, according to China’s Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.
Black and white fluff balls appeared in a playground in the center, adorned with Lunar New Year decorations, including lanterns, traditional Chinese knots, paper machines and flags.
“Newborn pandas from the 2020 class … wish you a happy New Year and good luck in the Year of the Ox”, shouted their guards with pandas in their arms, while some tried to climb.
Bamboo baskets with panda delicacies were prepared, with the Chinese character “fu”, meaning luck and blessings, written on the outside.
This mimicked the Chinese tradition of adults giving red envelopes with money inside to children during the Lunar New Year to convey wishes and blessings.
Instead of money, pandas received snacks. Some of them were curious about baskets, while others were distracted by nearby toys and decorations.
In December, there were 44 pandas in the world and more than half were raised in China.
China has been proud of its efforts to preserve an endangered species for many years. Pandas are also a symbol of China and part of its cultural diplomacy.
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Associated Press news assistant Caroline Chen contributed to the story.