Even Nuan Nuan the panda has been hit by rising costs

The giant panda cub, born in Zoo Negara to pandas on loan from China, is to be sent to China next month as maintenance costs are too high.

KUALA LUMPUR: Nuan Nuan, the giant panda cub that melted the hearts of Malaysians is returning to China next month.

This is because of the high cost of keeping the two-year-old panda, which was last year touted as a reflection of the friendship between Malaysia and China, at Zoo Negara.

“If we wanted to keep Nuan Nuan, we would have to expand the Giant Panda Conservation Centre at Zoo Negara, on top of the yearly US$600,000 (RM2.5million) fee and other expenses,” The Star quoted Natural Resources and Environ­ment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar as saying.

He said Nuan Nuan would leave Malaysia on her second birthday next month for the Giant Panda Sanctuaries at the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan.

Wan Junaidi, who is on a five-day working visit to China at the invitation of China’s Minister of Water Resources Chen Lei, was quoted as saying: “It is sad to say goodbye, but we feel this is best for Nuan Nuan.”

He has handed over an official letter to the Chinese government to relay Malaysia’s decision to return Nuan Nuan.

Nuan Nuan, the offspring of Xing Xing and Liang Liang who came to Malaysia in 2014 on a 10-year loan from China, was born in Zoo Negara.

Last year, Wan Junaidi said the name Nuan Nuan was picked out of a pool of nearly 23,000 suggestions from the Malaysian public as it best exemplified the diplomatic relationship between Malaysia and China.

“Nuan Nuan means friendliness. This reflects our relationship with China,” he was quoted as saying by the media. -FMT