Rio currently weighs over 11kg. His parents on loan from China to the country
With his iconic black and white coat, the first giant panda born in Indonesia 170 days ago is doing well and already attracting attention ahead of his first public appearance this month.
“Many Indonesians had to travel all the way to China just to see panda cubs. Now they no longer need them,” zoo director Aswin Sumampau said. The little panda, Satrio Wiratama, was born last November at Taman Safari Indonesia, a zoo on the island of Java (in the central archipelago), to a pair of pandas on loan from China to Indonesia. In the enclosure set up for his parents, the animal, whose name means “courageous and noble warrior”, played with a plush panda toy and a bamboo teething ring. His parents, Hu Chun and Cai Tao, arrived in Indonesia in 2017, when they were just seven years old, as part of a Chinese “panda diplomacy” initiative to celebrate 60 years of bilateral relations between the two countries.
The cub, nicknamed Rio, is the only panda born in a zoo outside China in the past three years, Mr Aswin said.
Even before its official unveiling later this month, Rio already has many admirers eager to see it. “The little panda is cute, adorable and melts your heart,” one fan wrote on the zoo’s social media.
Rio currently weighs over 11kg and is still learning to climb, according to Bongot Huaso Mulia, the vet caring for him. The young panda, whose fur is still dotted with reddish hairs, is very active and continues to be nursed, he added.
China sends animals considered “national treasures” around the world as part of “panda diplomacy,” which involves donating or loaning these animals to other countries as a sign of friendship. Unlike other Asian nations, Indonesia says it has no maritime dispute with Beijing in the South China Sea and does not dispute sovereignty over coral reefs or islets in that region.
