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Award-winning panda gets bamboo ‘tumpeng’ for birthday
Now that he is eight, he can meet his mate, a female panda named Hu Chun.
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Cai Tao’s keepers give him bamboo shoots, carrots, apples and other panda foods arranged like a cone to resemble 'tumpeng' for Cai Tao's eighth birthday. (JP /Theresia Sufa)
C
ai Tao, a male panda residing in Taman Safari Indonesia (TSI), received a large bamboo tumpeng on Saturday for his eighth birthday.
Tumpeng is a cone-shaped portion of yellow rice that is traditionally served during celebrations in Java and now in many other parts of Indonesia. Instead of rice, Cai Tao’s keepers gave him bamboo shoots, carrots, apples and other panda foods arranged like a cone to resemble tumpeng as a birthday present.
The celebration was a public event on Saturday afternoon and the TSI management also gave birthday presents — a panda-shaped cake with yellow rice — to visitors who shared their birthday with Cai Tao.
Rizky Fathony was one such visitor. “I’m surprised to learn that my birthday is the same as Cai Tao,” he said after receiving his yellow rice. Rizky said he knew that pandas were icons of animal conservation.
TSI director Jansen Manansang said Cai Tao was a lively panda.
Last week, Cai Tao won a silver medal in the Favorite Panda Outside China category of the Giant Panda Global Awards.
“At age eight, we can mate Cai Tao with a female panda named Hu Chun. The two protected animals are now living in separate enclosures,” said Jansen, who also received a “Human Panda Personality” award in the same competition. (evi)
