Farewell, Le Le: Singapore-born panda will return to China in December

SINGAPORE — Le Le, the first panda cub to be born in Singapore, will return to China in December.

The much beloved panda will say goodbye to fans here on Nov 20, when a farewell event will be held at River Wonders’ Pavilion Capital Giant Panda Forest exhibit.

Le Le will then be quarantined until he leaves for China in the “second half of December”, the Mandai Wildlife Group said in a statement on Friday (Sept 22).

The Mandai Wildlife Group added that Le Le has crossed his second birthday and is growing more independent. In his next stage of life, Le Le will return to China to “fulfil the important mission of contributing to the conservation of the Giant Panda species”, said the statement.

The cub had earlier shown increasing signs of independence such as eating, resting and playing on his own, the statement said.

His mother Jia Jia had also started to show “slight avoidance behaviours” such as moving away when he approaches, the group added. In the wild, behavioural changes in mother pandas lead to the eventual rejection of their cubs.

“All of this is part and parcel of the life stage progression of Giant Pandas which are solitary by nature,” said Mandai Wildlife Group.

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Under the terms of Chinese panda loan agreements, cubs born on foreign soil are generally returned to China when they turn two. China loans these animals to foreign countries as a goodwill gesture, an effort that has become popularly known as “panda diplomacy”.

The cub was born to panda parents Kai Kai and Jia Jia on Aug 14, 2021, after the duo made many attempts to conceive.

Meanwhile, the two pandas will remain in Singapore at River Wonders under the care of Mandai Wildlife Group, which will continue to work closely with China to ensure their well-being and planning for their future breeding cycles.

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This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.