Giant Panda Baby - Chiang Mai Zoo - Update

THAILAND: Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said yesterday that the cub was a favourite with children and he would consult with Chiang Mai Zoo on how to allow children to visit it as much as possible without harming it.

Asked if he would negotiate about the cub during his visit to China in late June, the premier said he would first check the contract to see whether the Chinese government could relax certain terms and, if so, would bring the matter up for negotiation at an appropriate time.

Zoological Park Organisation director-general Sophon Damnui said
Chiang Mai Zoo would hold a traditional northern blessing for the birth on a date to be set.

On Tuesday Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti will visit the cub and hopes to give a press conference on the negotiation progress, Sophon said.

On June 8 the zoo will report to HM the Queen on three breeding projects - for clouded leopards, eastern sarus cranes and pandas - chosen to mark her 72nd birthday.

Auditor-General Khunying Jaruvan Maintaka has donated Bt10,000 to China's Panda Fund.

Chiang Mai Zoo's head panda keeper Prasertsak Boontragoo-poontawee reported that Lin Hui and her baby were healthy and Lin Hui's excretory system was functioning normally for the first time since giving birth on Wednesday morning.

Lin Hui has been fed bread, bamboo leaves and apples every two hours and will keep her cub in her cage for a whole month to prevent stress. Veterinarian Kannikar Nimtrakul massaged Lin Hui to ease muscle strains from cradling the cub in her arms. Chiang Mai Zoo has installed more CCTV screens for real-time observation of the mother and cub, and the number of visitors to the panda section has been reduced to prevent disturbance of keepers' work.

The Chiang Mai Land Transport Office responded to the panda fever with an announcement yesterday that it would put a picture of the cub on car registration plates to be auctioned in November.

Office chief Assathai Rattanadilok na Phuket said it was also asking the Land Transport Department to allow Chiang Mai drivers to apply for smart-card licences with a background of the panda family, including father Chuang Chuang.

In Chiang Mai, panda dolls have become a hot sales item and prices have risen in the wake of Thailand's first panda birth.

"Thanks to the cub, the number of tourists should rise at least 10 per cent this year," said Chalermsak Suranant, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's Chiang Mai office.

Last year, 5 million tourists visited Chiang Mai, generating Bt38 billion in revenue.

Although tourism in Chiang Mai has slumped 50 per cent during the first five months of the year, an uptrend is now in sight.

"This is good news for Chiang Mai, and we're delighted," said Chalermsak.

Following failed efforts to have the panda pair mate naturally, Lin Hui underwent artificial insemination on February 18 and was not confirmed pregnant despite suggestive signs until Wednesday morning, when she produced the 230-gram female cub.

Source: Asia One News 31st May 2009