Kuala Lumpur, Nov 14 (AFP) Malaysia's first locally-borngiant panda headed to its homeland China today, with officialsbidding a sad goodbye to the female cub.
Two-year-old Nuan Nuan, whose name means "warmth", wasborn in Malaysia's national zoo in August 2015 a year afterher parents Feng Yi and Fu Wa arrived in the country on a 10-year loan from China.
In the wild, giant pandas can only be found in China'smountainous central regions where their favourite food,bamboo, grows in abundance.
But as part of its policy of "panda diplomacy", Beijingloans the animals to countries worldwide as a goodwillgesture.
Its agreement with Malaysia provides that cubs born incaptivity must be handed back to China at the age of two.
Nuan Nuan was placed inside a container Tuesday andlifted into a Malaysia Airlines freighter for a four and ahalf hour flight to the Chinese city of Chengdu -- home to aspecial research base for giant panda breeding.
The cub was seen lying comfortably on its stomach withbamboo shoots and carrots by its side.
She will be released into the forest after a period ofacclimatisation, Malaysian Environment Minister Wan JunaidiTuanku Jaafar told AFP.
"Goodbye Nuan Nuan. Have a good reunion with your kithsand kins you never knew," he said.
Mat Naim Ramli, the director of the Giant PandaConservation Centre at the zoo, said he had mixed feelings.
"A little bit sad and a little bit happy," he said atKuala Lumpur airport.
"Sad because the cub is going to China. Happy becauseMalaysia has contributed towards panda conservation."The decision to house the pandas in a special US$7.7million facility had caused controversy in Malaysia, withenvironmentalists arguing the money would have been betterspent on conservation of local wildlife.
Pandas have a notoriously low reproductive rate and areunder pressure from factors such as habitat loss.
There are an estimated 1,864 in the wild, according tothe International Union for Conservation, which classes themas "vulnerable."(AFP)AMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.