Pandas arrive in KL after delay over MH370

KUALA LUMPUR — Two giant pandas arrived in Malaysia from China yesterday after a month-long delay due to the missing Malaysian flight MH370.

Male Fu Wa and female Feng Yi, both eight years old, are on a 10-year loan from China to commemorate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

The loan was made under the International Giant Panda Conservation Cooperation Agreement, which gives Malaysia the opportunity to conduct research on giant panda conservation, in addition to developing and training local expertise.

Upon their arrival in a special MASKargo A330 plane yesterday, the pandas were taken to a specially built complex at Zoo Negara, Malaysia’s national zoo outside Kuala Lumpur, where they will be quarantined for a month before receiving visitors.

Their scheduled arrival last month had been postponed out of respect for relatives of passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The plane vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 with 239 people on board, mostly Chinese citizens, and the search for the aircraft continues.

“May the arrival of these two precious icons of China contribute to building an everlasting friendship and sustainable cooperation (between the two countries),” Malaysia’s Environment Minister Palanivel Govindasamy said.

The pandas will receive new names, which will be announced by Prime Minister Najib Razak during the grand opening of the enclosure at the end of next month, he added.

Mr Palanivel said RM60 million (S$23 million) had been allocated for the pandas, including a RM25 million air-conditioned conservation complex at the zoo. The 1.6ha compound will include wooden playgrounds and ice blocks to simulate the cooler temperature and features of their natural environment, said The Star. Mr Palanivel said he hoped the pandas would be able to mate and breed in their new home.

China has long used “panda diplomacy” to make friends and influence people in other countries. It has sent pandas to nations such as the United States, Singapore and Japan.

The pandas arrived amid recent tensions between China and Malaysia. Some of the relatives of Flight MH370’s passengers and other Chinese have expressed anger over Malaysia’s perceived mishandling of the plane’s disappearance. The kidnapping of a Chinese woman from a Malaysian island resort early last month was also a blow to the country’s image in China.

“Fu Wa and Feng Yi are a great symbol of our friendship and a gift from the Chinese people to the Malaysian people,” Mr Huang Huikang, China’s Ambassador to Malaysia, was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail.

At least 30,000 Chinese tourists have cancelled vacation plans to Malaysia since the plane disappeared. About 1.6 million Chinese tourists visited Malaysia last year.

The Malaysian government has said satellite data showed the jet had crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, but no wreckage has been found despite an exhaustive multi-nation search. Authorities believe the plane was deliberately flown off course, but are still investigating the cause of the disappearance. Agencies