Longevity noodle feast for Singapore's giant pandas this September
14 SEP 2019
River Safari’s male giant panda Kai Kai (left) turns 12 in September. Panda keepers lovingly prepared longevity ‘noodles’ for their birthday treat.
PHOTO CREDITS: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE
River Safari’s female giant panda Jia Jia turns 11 in September. Panda keepers lovingly prepared longevity ‘noodles’ for their birthday treat.
PHOTO CREDITS: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE
Longevity noodles are a traditional Chinese dish usually eaten during birthdays to symbolise long life. The giant panda versions that Kai Kai and Jia Jia eagerly tucked into consisted of 888g of spiralised carrots accompanied with a side of apples, high fibre biscuits and bamboo shoots served on a bamboo platter to maintain their healthy diets. The ‘noodles’ were not just a novel way of presenting their usual food but were also a form of food-based enrichment to stimulate their cognitive abilities. Long live, Kai Kai and Jia Jia!
Panda fans who come by to mark their birthday month are in for an extra treat this September - Kai Kai has been recreated in the unique tokidoki art style as part of River Safari’s tokidoki x River Safari campaign which is on till 31 Oct 2019. Look out for Kai Kai’s tokidoki 3D sculpture and other exclusive tokidoki characters inspired by River Safari’s animal collection, including Keta the red panda and Shant the Indian gharial, and collect assorted pins featuring these characters each week. Visit www.riversafari.com.sg/tokidoki for more information.
The longevity ‘noodles’ consisted of 888g of spiralised carrots accompanied with 1kg of bamboo shoots, 150g of high fibre biscuits and 100g of apples served on an edible bamboo platter.
PHOTO CREDITS: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE
Jia Jia munches on some carrot ‘noodles’ by grasping them with her front paw. Giant pandas have a unique bone in their wrists that function as opposable thumbs to grasp food such as bamboo.
PHOTO CREDITS: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE
After devouring the ‘noodle’ dish, Kai Kai gets started
on the edible bamboo platter it was served on.
PHOTO CREDITS: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE
Kai Kai, recreated in tokidoki style, hitches a ride on Mermicorno Seychelles. Look out for life-sized 3D sculptures like this and other exclusive tokidoki characters inspired by River Safari’s animal collection.
PHOTO CREDITS: WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE
