Giant panda cubs in China's Sichuan make first group appearance to greet upcoming Spring Festival

Ten giant panda cubs born in 2022 make their first group appearance at Shenshuping base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong National Nature Reserve, southwest China's Sichuan Province, to greet the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year. (Red Star News/courtesy of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda)

Ten giant panda cubs born in 2022 recently made their first group appearance at the Shenshuping base of the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Wolong National Nature Reserve, southwest China's Sichuan Province, to greet the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival.

During the event, keepers held the 10 giant panda cubs in their arms and walked into a part of the Shenshuping base that was nicely adorned with Spring Festival decorations, including red lanterns, Chinese knots, ornaments featuring the Chinese character “Fu”, which means fortune and luck in English, rabbit-shaped stuffed toys, as well as gift boxes.

In the festive atmosphere, the keepers, while holding the cubs in their arms, extended Spring Festival greetings to all Chinese people, wishing everyone happiness and good fortune in the Year of the Rabbit.

After sending good wishes for the 2023 Chinese Lunar New Year, the giant panda cubs were allowed to play freely in the area. Some of them climbed up the trees to look at the Chinese knots hanging on the branches, while others played with stuffed toys, sniffed at the Spring Festival decorations, played with their keepers, or ran about the decorated area.

In 2022, a total of 13 cubs were born and survived at bases in the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.

According to Wei Rongping, an expert at the center, out of the 10 cubs that made the group appearance, the oldest was seven months old and the youngest was around five months old.

"Three cubs didn't go to the event, because one of them didn't want to leave its mom, and the other two had been selected for wilderness survival training and live with their mothers at the Hetaoping base," Wei said, adding that the 10 cubs who made their first group appearance would be sent back to their mothers after the event.