World’s only panda triplets greet visitors at reopened zoo

GUANGZHOU CITY, CHINA (CBS Newspath) — The world’s only giant panda triplets greeted visitors in Guangzhou City of south China’s Guangdong Province on Friday, after three months of the zoo closure due to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Though the temperature is high, the black-and-white bears remain outdoors at the Chimelong Safari Park in Guangzhou to eat bamboos and lick ice cakes, drawing much excitement from zoo goers.

The precious trio were born on July 29, 2014 at Chimelong. They were named Meng Meng, Shuai Shuai and Ku Ku, which mean cute, handsome and cool in English.

They have gone from just around 100 grams when they were born to over 100 kilograms now.

“Behind me is the eldest sister Meng Meng. She has a slender figure and weighs 105 kilograms, a perfect figure. Her brothers Ku Ku and Shuai Shuai have grown very fast — both weighing over 140 kilograms. So we are consciously trying to keep them in shape, not to let them gain weight too fast. The triplets are fully grown. Each of them has a separate shelter,” Chen Shuqing, the triplets’ zoo keeper, said in an interview with China Central Television.

The Chimelong Safari Park had been closed since January due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Reopened before the May Day holiday season in a significantly eased epidemic situation, the park has introduced strict health inspection rules and has maintained a visitor flow of less than 30 percent of its maximum capacity.