All eyes on the 'little one', the Singapore-born giant panda cub

Right now, he just sleeps a lot, most of the time. He does get up once in a while and try to learn how to crawl about. Personality-wise, I would say maybe a bit more laid back in terms of how he is with Jia Jia. So maybe he takes after the father a little bit. Pink, hairless and the size of a hamster. This panda cub squeaked its way into the world and into our hearts when it was born at the Singapore River Safari in August 2021. The Straits Times spoke to Animal Care Officer Trisha Tay to find out what it's like taking care of Singapore's most famous baby, currently known as the little one. So basically when it comes to caring for the cub, first thing when I wake up in the morning, I'll check in on the CCTV to see how Jia Jia is doing, whether she ate and rested well overnight. And then when we come in, we will actually do our morning routine check on Jia Jia and the cub, make sure that both are fine. And then we'll feed her some bamboo. Pandas have to eat multiple times a day because they get very little nutrition from the bamboo. We'll clean up their dens and then after that, we'll give Jia Jia access to the exhibit. And after she's done eating, we'll return the cub back into his corner so that she can continue to care for him. The cub is the latest addition to the global giant panda population and a result of a wider conservation effort for wildlife. I think the conservation program for the giant panda has been one of the icons of how conservation can be done. Because it's been done for so long, 30 odd years, we have a lot of lessons that we can learn from it. So Kai Kai and Jia Jia are part of the giant panda assurance population that exists in captivity. This assurance population that exists has been a key pillar of panda conservation. We have been able to learn a lot about giant panda biology and in turn, this helps us save pandas in the wild as well. When Kai Kai and Jia Jia arrived in Singapore in 2012, the pair were less than 5 years old. In panda terms, they were on the cusp of adulthood, yet unschooled in the ways of procreation. Well, I think the biggest challenge for us here in Singapore is that we only have two giant pandas and they both arrived when they were sub-adults. So they have no experience in mating. We're not like China where if the male cannot mate, they can just swap out another male and bring in another one. The window is very tight as well. It's only like 48 hours. So we had to do what we could within that short period of time during the fertile window. Our work kind of revolves around the giant panda breeding cycle. There's a loud period of just trying to keep Jia Jia as comfortable as possible. So no major works around the panda complex. And then after that, it'll be a very close watch when she's anywhere near her parturition period. So basically, it starts from January all the way to September. Before Jia Jia gave birth, we actually went for a learning trip, myself and a couple of colleagues, to learn more about parturition, postpartum care, and things like that, so that we are actually ready and prepared. The stress of caring for the panda cub is much greater because there are a lot more stakeholders involved, making sure the cub is growing well. And I guess because everybody has waited a long time for this cub, seven years, and all eyes are kind of on us making sure that he's well taken care of and that Jia Jia is doing fine. After two years, the little one will be returned to China. And there it will join the country's panda breeding program. Definitely, I'm sure after spending two years with the cub and watching him grow from a little baby, I'm sure I would be pretty sad and be attached to him as well, yeah. Yeah.