APEC 2009

S'pore rolling out red carpet for very special guests

IF YOU are impressed with preparations for visiting dignitaries this week, then you will be floored by the red carpet being rolled out for two very special VIPs - Very Important Pandas.

The pandas do not hit town until late 2011. But much work has to be done ahead of their arrival in Singapore, as part of a 10-year collaboration with the China Wildlife Conservation Association.

Their staple diet - bamboo - has to be planted, the posh climate-controlled enclosure built and the keepers trained. A team of experts from China will come over to provide guidance.

The aim is help conserve the endangered species, raise awareness, and to start a breeding and research programme.

A key step will be taken today when Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Chinese President Hu Jintao witness the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for the project.

Ms Fanny Lai, chief executive of Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said the pandas will be the star attractions in the new US$140 million (S$194 million) River Safari facility that will open in 2012. 'We are very excited about this,' she said. 'It is the dream of every zoo in the world to be able to work with the giant pandas.'

The one-year-old female and two-year-old male have been bred in captivity at the Wolong panda reserve in China's Sichuan province. They will undergo one month of quarantine in Singapore and will need another five months to acclimatise to their new surroundings before they make their public debut in 2012.

Home will be a spacious 1,600 sq m enclosure. It will simulate the four seasons the pandas are used to, with air-conditioning set at between 18 deg C and 22 deg C and humidity at 50 per cent to 60 per cent. The park is also planting different species of bamboo to meet their dietary requirement of about 20kg of the grass a day.

The pandas will be named after they arrive, but Ms Lai said they have yet to work out how it will be done. She added that while the programme was for 10 years, it could be extended. She declined to say how much it will cost to maintain the pandas, but it takes about $1 million a year to upkeep an animal exhibit zone in the Singapore Zoo. CapitaLand has signed on as a corporate sponsor for an undisclosed sum.

Cuddly pandas are a huge draw for any zoo, but their presence in Singapore has a serious side for Ms Lai - initiating a successful breeding programme.

There are about 1,800 pandas in the world, including 268 in captivity. The 30 that are in zoos outside China have produced 12 babies, and Ms Lai hopes Singapore can add to the number. The bears coming here have twin siblings, which will increase their chances of reproduction.

Giant pandas, which are found only in China, are threatened by loss of habitat, poaching and a low birth rate. Females in the wild normally have a cub once every two to three years. Any offspring will be returned to China, which considers pandas a national treasure.

It is not the first time that Singapore has hosted pandas. In 1990, a pair, An-An and Xin-Xing, were here for 100 days. In 1988, Jiao Jiao the performing panda visited with the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe.