Remember Feng Yi and Fu Wa, two incredibly adorable pandas that arrived in Malaysia back in May 2014? The pair gave birth to Malaysia’s first locally-born panda, Nuan Nuan, the following year in August 2015. Unfortunately, we don’t get to keep baby Nuan Nuan 🙁
Earlier on Tuesday (Nov 14), Nuan Nuan bade farewell to Malaysia as the baby panda was transported back to China.
Nuan Nuan’s parents Feng Yi and Fu Wa were loaned to Malaysia as part of China’s ‘panda diplomacy’ – a policy where the latter loans pandas to countries as a goodwill gesture and to celebrate the good relationship between the two countries. However, the agreement with Malaysia is that any panda born in captivity must be handed back to China by the age of two.
“I’m a little bit sad and a little bit happy. Sad because the cub is going to China. Happy because Malaysia has contributed towards panda conservation.” said Mat Naim Ramli, the director of the Giant Panda Conservation Centre in Malaysia.
However, it’s not all over. If you want your fix of cute pandas, you can still head over to the zoo as Malaysia will still house Feng Yi and Fu Wa until 2024 as part of their 10-year deal signed with China.
Also, we hope Nuan Nuan safely makes it back to China!
Source: Channel News Asia
