KUALA LUMPUR: The second panda cub of Liang Liang and Xing Xing has been officially named Yi Yi which means “friendship”.
Land, Water and Natural Resources Minister Xavier Jayakumar said the cub’s name was selected in recognition of the warm relationship between Malaysia and China that has grown through four decades of diplomatic relations.
“Today marks a historic moment as we name the second cub. The government of Malaysia has carefully selected and consulted the China Wildlife Conservation Association before finalising on a deemed suitable name.”
“It is my fervent hope that akin to the meaning of the name, the friendship between Malaysia and the People’s Republic of China will further enhanced (and) not limited to giant panda conservation efforts but also diplomatically and economically,“ he said in an opening speech at Zoo Negara today.
Yi Yi, a female cub weighing 50kg, was born on Jan 14 last year.
“The cub was received by our own local team of veterinarians at Zoo Negara and the team later nursed and closely monitored the cub’s growth. Over the past 18 months, the cub’s growth development has been good. Now, the cub from merely 750 grams at birth has grown into a healthy cub weighing almost 50kg.
“She is active, bonds well with her mother and in good health. Though the cub still feeds on milk, it has also been exposed to other diets such as bamboo leaves and carrots. This displays the normal physiological progress and cub’s maturity.”
Also present during the ceremony were Chinese ambassador to Malaysia Bai Tian, Deputy Water, Land and Natural Resources Ministry Minister Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji, ministry secretary-general Datuk Zurinah Pawanteh, and Zoo Negara deputy president Rosly @ Rahmat Ahmat Lana.
Liang Liang and Xing Xing, a pair of giant pandas arrived in Malaysia on May 21, 2014, under a 10-year loan programme.
Their arrival marked the 40th anniversary of the establishing of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
The pair’s first female cub, Nuan Nuan, was born on August 23, 2016, at the conservation centre here and was sent to the China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda on November 14, 2017.
