Pandas: Hard to say goodbye

The Star

Zoo Negara's animal handler Akmal Hadi Samsuddin was overwhelmed with emotion as he bid farewell to his beloved "princess" at the Wolong China Giant Panda Garden in Sichuan province, China.  True to his word, Akmal traveled to Nanjing’s Ziqing Lake Wildlife World on April 25 to visit Nuan Nuan, his first "princess."  https://tinyurl.com/3f385xxt  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00 Nuan-Nuan! Nuan-Nuan! Hey, see? Your teddy bear!

00:05 It was a moment of sheer happiness when Zunegara's panda caretaker,

00:10 Akmal Hadi Samsuddin, and his colleague, Mohamed Saifullah,

00:13 saw the two pandas they had cared for.

00:15 Their reunion happened at the end of last month at Nanjing and Wulong in China,

00:20 where Nuan-Nuan and Shengyi are currently living.

00:25 Even though Nuan-Nuan hasn't seen us for a long time, when I called her by her name,

00:30 she would move her ears and look at me.

00:33 She tried to rewind the time to get her memories back.

00:38 At least, between me, the caretaker, and the panda, she was interested.

00:43 She was happy to see me.

00:47 Nuan-Nuan was born at Zunegara's Giant Panda Conservation Centre in Malaysia in 2015,

00:55 and two years later, she returned to China,

00:58 as per the loan agreement between the Malaysian and Chinese governments.

01:01 Akmal said their meeting with Shengyi at the Shenshuping Giant Panda Base

01:12 was also very memorable when she pushed her toy towards them upon recognition of their voice.

01:18 Pandas are not noisy animals.

01:22 They like to run around.

01:24 So, when I called her, she looked at me.

01:27 She didn't come to me right away.

01:31 We were there for two days, and on the second day,

01:35 we called Shengyi, and he came to me.

01:39 He showed me his toys, as if he wanted to convey something.

01:43 Pandas are animals, but they can show their reactions.

01:52 But we don't understand it.

01:54 Shengyi was born in 2021 and returned to China in August last year,

01:58 together with Yiyi, who is three years older.

02:01 Akmal said they didn't get to meet Yiyi as she was not on public display,

02:06 but he planned to visit China again to see her in July.

02:10 Akmal is now caring for the three pandas' parents, Fuwa and Fengyi, at Zunegara.

02:16 He said he had a lot of memories with the pandas,

02:19 and parting with them had been an emotional challenge.

02:24 We don't feel sad, but it's more like a blessing.

02:28 I'm not sad that we lost something, but we didn't lose this.

02:32 We lost it while we were able to reunite.

02:36 We were busy when Nuan was two years old.

02:41 But now, Nuan has become a panda, an adult female,

02:46 in good health.

02:48 We have a good place to live, and we have a loving family.

02:55 Like me, and like us, in Zunegara, we love Nuan.

02:59 Despite the heartache, Akmal holds on to the hope of future reunions,

03:07 soothing the pain of separation.

03:10 For more UN videos visit: www.un.org/webcast

03:16 The End

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