Giant panda Bao Bao plays in her outdoor habitat at the Smithsonian's National Zoo, Feb. 21, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Photo : Getty Images)
The U.S.-born giant panda Bao Bao has appeared in public for the first time in eastern China's Sichuan Province on Friday.
After 30 days of quarantine, the 3-year-old female walked out of her house and met diplomats, reporters, and dozens of other guests at the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda in Chengdu, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency.
Bao Bao arrived in Chengdu earlier in February and has undergone a 30-day quarantine in a 100-square meter enclosure, the report said.
Li Desheng, a panda expert with the center, ensured Bao Bao's good health in the facility.
"Bao Bao eats more bamboo than some adult pandas and she has put on 2 kilograms during her staying at the base," said Wei.
However, Bao Bao did experience some difficulties adjusting since moving to China from the U.S., according to one of her handlers.
Over the past month, the panda had to learn instructions in Mandarin with a Sichuan accent as well as acclimatize to the local cuisine in place of the food she was used to, Tang Cheng, one of Bao Bao's keepers during the quarantine, told the New York Times.
By now, Bao Bao is able to understand some commands in Chinese and is adapting well to her new environment,", Tang said.
Bao Bao, which translates to "precious" or "treasure" in Chinese, was born at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington D.C., the second giant panda born there.
Her older brother, Tai Shan, was born in 2005 and sent back to China in 2010 and is now her neighbor at the center. A younger brother, Bei Bei, was born in 2015 and still lives in Washington.
Her parents Mei Xiang and Tian Tian was flown to the zoo in 2000 as part of an agreement between China and the United States. Under the agreement, panda cubs born in the U.S. to parents on loan from China must be returned to China before their fourth birthday in preparation for breeding.
According to the China Conservation and Research Center, 25 pandas have been born abroad since the 1990s, when China set up panda breeding programs in collaboration with 17 zoos in 12 countries. Of these, 17 cubs have survived, according to Zhang Zhizhong, deputy head of the center.
So far, the center has welcomed back 11 pandas from overseas, Zhang said.
