Panda babies greet Year of the Monkey
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E-mail Xiinhua, February 6, 2016
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Giant panda cubs play together at the Bifeng Gorge base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP), in Ya'an, southwest China's Sichuan Province, Jan. 31, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua] |
As millions of Chinese head home for the Spring Festival, a dozen of panda babies have already celebrated the Chinese Lunar New Year at a breeding center in southwest China.
The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP), the world's largest artificial breeding center for the rare species, held a special new year greeting ceremony on Friday at its base in Ya'an, Sichuan Province, with baby pandas born in 2015 attending.
At a panda kindergarten at the Bifeng Gorge base, panda cubs between five to seven months were released from their dorm to a playground with a wooden stand decorated with traditional new year blessing items like red Chinese knots for good luck and gold ingots for wealth. The panda babies climbed up on the stand and played with monkey dolls too.
"On behalf of the panda population, we wish all the people a happy Year of the Monkey," said Heng Yi, the center's publicity officer, adding the ceremony aims to improve public awareness of environmental protection too.
Luo Bo, deputy chief of the center's animal management department, said the ceremony is also a sort of physical training for the cubs.
"They grow very fast at their age now and need more physical practice to improve their strength and fitness. Apparently, they love the dolls," said Luo.
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