11.06.09 Cub turns 15 - days
Source: The Nation
The Chiang Mai Zoo's panda research and display section hosted an
internal celebration yesterday for the cub's 15th-day birthday, while
father Chuang Chuang has gained weight following an increase in his
appetite.
Since its birth on May 27, the cub has been developing fast physically.
continuously and the section yesterday at 2pm had ten mascots visiting
the panda family while human visitors observed joyously. Section
chief Prasertsak Boontrakulpoontawee said Lin Hui was exhausted from a
lack of rest as she had been holding the cub in her arms most of the
time. She eats only six slices of bamboo bread, two kilograms of bamboo
and 300 grams of apples daily. The cub is now twice the size it was at birth. It sports a footballsized belly and its skin is pinkish, Prasertsak says.
It will get its mother's shape between three and four months old and develop milk teeth. Chuang
Chuang appeared in a good mood and now weighed 147kg, compared to the
average 120kg weight of male pandas in China. If he continues to gain
weight, the zoo will put him on a diet. Veterinarian Kannikar Nimtrakul said the cub slept on the floor for 510 minutes on Tuesday night after Lin Hui let her go so the mother could eat bamboos and excrete. The cub, with more and more black hair becoming visible, used her front legs to massage her mother's breast to drink milk. Meanwhile,
with the June 12 deadline for the cubnaming contest almost here, the
zoo has received thousands of postcards. Special cards by Thailand Post
featuring the cub and four final names for voting will be ready for
purchase next week, an informed source said.
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