JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Giant pandas Cai Tao and Hu Chun arrived Thursday to fanfare in Indonesia where a new “palace” like home that cost millions of dollars has been built for them.
The male and female pair landed at Jakarta’s international airport from Chengdu and will be quarantined at Taman Safari zoo outside the capital for about a month before the public can visit.
The zoo hopes the 7-year-olds will mate and add to the giant panda population. It’s built a special enclosure and facilities that cost about 60 billion rupiah ($4.5 million), Taman Safari President Tony Sumampouw told The Associated Press.
There are less than 1,900 giant pandas in their only wild habitats in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu.
China gifted friendly nations with its national mascot in what was known as “panda diplomacy” for decades.