GOMBAK \u2013 What began as an ordinary day at Zoo Negara turned into an unforgettable surprise for visitors when the Giant Panda Conservation Centre was officially opened to the public following Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim\u2019s first visit to its star residents \u2013 giant pandas Chen Xing and Xiao Yue from China.<\/p>\n
Families who had come for a casual outing on Jan 10 suddenly found themselves witnessing a milestone moment, with the long-awaited panda enclosure finally welcoming the public.<\/p>\n
Engineer Mohd Fairus Abdullah, 44, from Puchong, said he had no idea the centre would open when he brought his children to the zoo for the first time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was completely by chance. We came to visit the zoo and then realised that the Prime Minister was here. Then we learnt that the Panda Centre had been opened to the public,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very exciting. Seeing pandas brought all the way from China made the visit enjoyable, especially for my children,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
For 39-year-old Kubenthra Jayaraman, a procurement executive from Kuala Lumpur, the unexpected opening turned his family\u2019s annual zoo tradition into a magical moment for his four-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been visiting the zoo every year for the past three years as part of a family outing since my wife and daughter share the same birthday month,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t know the Panda Centre was open yet, so it was a very exciting surprise when we arrived and got to see them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described the arrival of the pandas as a positive step by the government to boost tourism.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good initiative. Having pandas here attracts more visitors and gives people another reason to come to Malaysia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Contractor Tung Boon Hua, 36, from Kuala Lumpur, also found himself pleasantly surprised during his visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t get to see the previous pandas, Fu Wa and Feng Yi. The only time I\u2019ve seen pandas was in Chengdu, China, so this is my second time seeing them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy they were brought to Malaysia, and I hope they grow up in a clean and happy environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Describing the pandas as charming and relatable, Mr Tung said their habits struck a familiar chord.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re very cute creatures. Some of their actions, like sleeping and resting, are amusing because they resemble how humans are sometimes,\u201d he said, adding that Malaysians no longer need to travel abroad to experience pandas up close.<\/p>\n
According to personnel at the centre, visits to the panda enclosure are carefully managed, with only 50 visitors allowed every 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
\u201cCaretakers will monitor and control the crowd, ushering visitors out once their time is up before allowing the next group in from the waiting area,\u201d the personnel said, adding that visitors must continue to follow all basic guidelines.<\/p>\n
The centre will be open daily from 9am to 5pm. THE STAR\/ASIA NEWS NETWORK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GOMBAK \u2013 What began as an ordinary day at Zoo Negara turned into an unforgettable surprise for visitors…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[85,46,141,386],"class_list":["post-231982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}