CapitaLand bids adieu to giant pandas Kai Kai, Jia Jia

The giant pandas are to arrive in Singapore today.

In a release, CapitaLand Limited joined Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS); China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA); and China Conservation and Research Centre for the Giant Panda to witness the sending-off of “Kai Kai” and “Jia Jia”, known as “Wu Jie” and “Hu Bao” in China, at Ya’an Bifengxia Panda Base.

The farewell ceremony was graced by Singapore’s Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Trade and Industry and Ministry of National Development, Mr Lee Yi Shyan; Mr Jia Jiansheng, Deputy Director, Department of Wildlife Conservation and Natural Reserve Management, State Forestry Administration, People’s Republic of China; and Mr Lim Ming Yan, Chief Operating Officer, CapitaLand Limited. CapitaLand is the Presenting Sponsor and Conservation Donor of the 10-year Giant Panda Collaborative Programme (Programme) between WRS and CWCA.

The pair of giant pandas – male panda Kai Kai and his female companion Jia Jia – will arrive in Singapore on 6 September 2012, and begin the 10-year Programme in the country. CapitaLand’s sponsorship will support giant panda conservation efforts to build infrastructure including the pandas’ habitat; extend care of pandas and related facilities for collaborative research and conservation; promote the breeding of this extremely endangered animal by replicating the conditions suitable to naturally or artificially assisting the reproduction of giant pandas in Singapore; and panda husbandry and care in captivity.

CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), CapitaLand’s philanthropic arm, is also supportive of the Programme. CHF will work in partnership with WRS to develop educational programmes and materials to engage underprivileged children and showcase the importance of wildlife conservation, so that they too, can contribute towards biodiversity.

Mr Lim Ming Yan led two children from CapitaLand Muchuan Green Hope School, Sichuan in presenting a scroll painting of a happy giant panda family in a bamboo forest, adorned with the two children’s handprints, to Singapore’s Senior Minister of State, Mr Lee Yi Shyan. There are about 8,000 children in the 23 CapitaLand Hope Schools in China. The scroll painting is symbolic of the children’s well wishes for Kai Kai and Jia Jia to lead a healthy, happy life during their 10-year stay in Singapore.

The baby pandas in the painting represent hopes for panda offspring by Kai Kai and Jia Jia, while the bamboo forest embodies the lasting, evergreen nature of bilaterial ties between Singapore and China.