Visitors flock to Singapore Zoo to eye Giant Pandas

Visitors flock to Singapore Zoo to eye Giant Pandas

Jia Jia (Francine Lim, channelnewsasia.com)

The two pandas from China, Kai Kai and Jia Jia, thrilled hordes of visitors on the opening day of the Giant Panda Forest on Thursday.

They were active, moving playfully around their enclosure, as visitors snapped photographs and filmed every action of the pandas.

Some visitors were at the Singapore Zoo, where the Panda Forest is located, before 8am - one hour before the panda's enclosure opened.

Each adult pays an extra S$5 while a child pays an additional S$3 to visit the pandas.

Each ticket holder has 15 minutes in the enclosure.

150 people can go into the enclosure per viewing session.

Tickets for the first few viewing sessions were quickly snapped up.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore said that more than 2,000 visitors met the panda couple on Thursday.

For many families, the outing to the Giant Panda Forest was a school holiday treat.

One mother, Madam Joycelyn Chew, said the visit was a reward for her two young daughters who had done well in their school examinations.

Another visitor, Mr Anond Suwanarat, was there at about 9am, hoping to be among the first to see the pandas.

But the tickets had already been snapped up.

He and his family managed to meet the pandas at 10.40am.

Business analyst Ms Manjula Abeyasinghe, who is on a holiday in Singapore with her family, cancelled plans to go to the Universal Studios Singapore when she heard that the panda enclosure would open to the public on Thursday.

The Giant Panda Forest is the first of the River Safari attractions to open to the public. The rest of the park is expected to be ready by early next year.

Meanwhile, a pair of limited edition female and male panda toys clad in the signature batik motif produced by Singapore Airlines (SIA) has raised S$427,000 for the Community Chest.

The fundraising drive started on September 8, when the panda toys were given to those who donated $20 or more at six locations.

The toy collectibles were then made available for donations on board selected SIA flights through KrisShop.

SIA said the money raised will be used to support programmes for children with special needs.

~/News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~