The Chinese giant panda duo of Fu Wa and Feng Yi arrived safely at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 7.53am this morning.
Arriving onboard a special MASKargo Airbus 330-200, designated Flight MH6462, from Chengdu, the two pandas are to spend the next 10 years of their lives at the Zoo Negara, where they will be housed in a state-of-the-art air-conditioned enclosure in the country’s premier zoo, where they will be the focus of giant panda conservation research and to help train local expertise in the field.
Present at the landing were Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G Palanivel and China’s ambassador to Malaysia Dr Hunag Huikang, Bernama reports.
The pandas are Malaysia’s guests as a token of acknowledgment of the 40th anniversary of Malaysia establishing diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China. The plan to move Fu Wa and Feng Yi to KL was signed off under the International Giant Panda Conservation Cooperation Agreement in 2012.
The two pandas will be presented for public viewing after a month-long quarantine period.
Their arrival was initially scheduled to take place on April 16, but was postponed due to the case of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 taking up the resources of both the Malaysian and Chinese governments in search and rescue operations.
The Sun Daily has these photos of the landing ceremony at KLIA from this morning:
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