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Singaporeans excited to see Kai Kai and Jia Jia's newborn cub will get to do so in a few months' time.
Speaking to the media on Aug. 26, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) deputy chief executive officer, Cheng Wen-Haur, said the panda cub will meet the public at around four months old or when it is "more steady on its foot".
However, the cub will be living in Singapore for only two years before making its return to China.
That will also be when the cub is no longer dependent on mummy panda.
The cub was born on August 14, which is also the Chinese Valentine's Day.
It weighed around 200g at birth and now estimated to be 380g based on the Chinese experts' data on the general growth and weight of panda cubs.
Panda cub to return to China in 2 years' time
At the media briefing, WRS also shared that they are currently in talks with their China counterpart to discuss extending their loan of the pandas for another term, so that Kai Kai and Jia Jia can stay at River Safari for a few more years.
The panda cub, however, will live with Jia Jia in Singapore until it is around two years old, and will subsequently join the rest of the pandas in China under its national Giant Panda breeding programme.
WRS said:
"At two years of age, giant panda cubs in the wild are considered independent and will leave their mums. So the natural biology of the giant panda species is the key reason that our panda cub will head home to rejoin China’s panda programme around this time, and start its own family in future."
Photo of panda cub at 10 days' old, courtesy of Wildlife Reserves Singapore. You can see the cub’s markings such as the dark colouration around the hind legs, back, eyes and ears are starting to become more prominent at this age.
This is also because giant pandas are solitary animals.
In the wild, each giant panda requires about 114.7 square kilometers to thrive, according to a research in 2016. That's about one-seventh of the size of Singapore.
They hardly meet one another except perhaps during mating season, which is a very limited window of time.
River Safari does not have the necessary facilities to house another adult panda, unfortunately.
Cheng called the situation a "housing shortage here".
One-child policy?
However, China's one-child policy does not apply to Kai Kai and Jia Jia.
In response to questions from the media, Abraham Mathew, the assistant vice president of the veterinary services at WRS said Jia Jia is now a middle-aged panda and will enter the geriatric stage in a few years’ time.
Pandas typically start breeding from six years old to around 15 years old.
WRS will continue with the breeding efforts but said they will take advice from China experts who have "numerous experience" on when to slow down or stop breeding entirely.
Abraham added that after animals at WRS reach geriatric stage, which is when they hit about 70 per cent of their lifespan, WRS will look into the animals' needs, which include making changes to their husbandry so that they can live comfortably.
Catch a glimpse of Jia Jia and baby online
While members of the public can only see Jia Jia's panda cub in person a few months later, they can catch a glimpse of the mother and child at the maternity facility via a panda cam screened daily online at 4pm for an hour.
Starting from Aug. 26, WRS will put up the video on their YouTube channel for those who are interested to watch the pandas.
If you are lucky, you might get to see the small panda cub as Jia Jia is protective of its child and usually cuddles it close to her.
Photo of Jia Jia and cub, courtesy of Wildlife Reserves Singapore.
The gender of the panda cub is not known yet but we will likely be revealed in a few weeks' time, WRS said.
Here's the first panda cam released today:
Read more about the latest update on Jia Jia and Kai Kai here:
Top image via WRS