August 12, 2022, 02:25 PM
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Singapore's darling baby panda Le Le has reached one of the first big milestones in life.
The panda cub will be turning one on Aug. 14.
His birthday festivities started early at River Wonders on Aug. 12, and he and mother Jia Jia were presented with a three-tier ice cake embedded with carrots, bamboo and edible flowers, and topped with apple slices.
Photo from Mandai Wildlife Reserve / FB
Photo from Mandai Wildlife Group
New foods
Having grown from a small 200g bean to a hefty 33kg, this also marks a shift in Le Le's diet.
Photo from Mandai Wildlife Group
The panda cub was recently introduced to solid food, such as pellets, carrots, bamboo leaves and shoots, on Jun. 10.
He has begun to nibble on these in small quantities.
Photo from Mandai Wildlife Group
Photo from Mandai Wildlife Group
However, he is still mainly reliant on Jia Jia's milk.
Panda cubs typically start to wean at around 12 months old, but they may still continue to nurse for up to 18 months.
Starting training
Le Le's care team has also begun his positive reinforcement training since Jul. 7.
These sessions will prepare the panda cub for routine medical procedures in the future for overall medical care and health monitoring.
The training makes use of rewards to encourage an animal to repeat a desired behaviour.
For the case of Le Le, his carers are attempting to get him to respond to a target. When he completes the behaviour correctly, he is given a carrot or pellet treat.
Photo from Mandai Wildlife Group
Like most young children though, Le Le gets easily distracted and each training session only lasts for a few minutes.
The training sessions will gradually be lengthened in the future.
Panda-themed activities at River Wonders
Currently, Le Le still spends most days bonding with Jia Jia, playing with his enrichment toys, and snoozing in weird positions.
Photo from Mandai Wildlife Group
His birthday celebration will continue into the weekend, and visitors interested in catching Le Le playing around with his ice cake can do so at the Giant Panda Forest on Aug. 14 at 10am.
Panda-themed activities will last till Sep. 11 at River Wonders. Find more information here.
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Top photo from Mandai Wildlife Group
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