Chiang Mai panda celebrates second birthday

30 May 2011

The giant panda cub resident at Chiang Mai Zoo celebrated her second birthday on Friday. Zoo officials marked Lin Ping’s milestone anniversary with a giant cake topped by models of Chiang Mai’s old city walls and the Great Wall of China.

Visitors flocked to the zoo to join the fun and celebrate the star attraction’s momentous occasion. Mother Lin Hui gave birth to the panda cub after an artificial insemination procedure.

The mother and father, Xuang Xuang, came to Chiang Mai Zoo in 2003 on a 10 year loan from China. Lin Hui had to be inseminated due to the fact that Xuang Xuang had shown no interest in mating.

Under the terms of the original agreement, any offspring of the couple should have been sent to China two years after birth, but zoo and Chinese officials are believed to have agreed a two-year extension.

Since the giant pandas arrived at the zoo in 2003, and with the subsequent birth of Lin Ping, visitor numbers have increased significantly, with many saying they came just to visit the panda enclosure.

Because of its mountainous location, Chiang Mai has a similar climate to the pandas’ native habitat in the Wolong region of Sichuan Province in southwest China. In winter, temperatures in Chiang Mai can drop to 13°C, which allows the pandas to take trips outdoors, away from their air-conditioned home.

Visitors entering the panda enclosure at Chiang Mai Zoo have to pay an extra fee on top of the zoo admission charge, which is 100 Baht for adult foreigners and 50 Baht for children.

Tags: Chiang Mai panda birthday