ndonesia is bracing for panda fever as the furry envoys from China, Cai Tao and Hu Chun, landed safely at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Tangerang, on Thursday with a celebrity welcome from the government and representatives from the Chinese Embassy.
The 7-year-old pandas, Cai Tao and Hu Chun, were greeted by Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya and the Chinese Embassy’s chargé d’affaires, Sun Weide, after a five-hour flight from Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Sichuan, China, on Garuda Indonesia Airbus 330-200.
Siti said Indonesia has been preparing to host pandas since 2008 by readying a habitat similar to their country of origin in Taman Safari Indonesia zoo in Cisarua, West Java.
China agreed to bring the pandas in 2013 during a visit by President Xi Jinping to Jakarta.
The government has committed to making the pandas happy in their new home at Taman Safari Indonesia.
“The panda is an icon of China and the pride of Chinese citizens, so there is a high standard for their preservation,” Siti said during a press conference at Garuda Indonesia cargo terminal on Thursday.
“[We have] prepared 10 hectares of land for planting bamboo and 1,300 square meters of land to make a playground for the pandas,” Siti said.
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