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South Korea zoo names its 3-month-old twin pandas ‘treasures’
- The female cubs – named Rui Bao, or ‘wise treasure’, and Hui Bao, ‘shining treasure’ – were born at the Everland theme park near Seoul on July 7
- China has long deployed ‘panda diplomacy’, gifting the animals to various countries, often to further its foreign policy aims
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South Korea got its first up-close look at its new pair of baby giant pandas on Thursday at a name-revealing ceremony that doubled as an early celebration of the 100 days since their birth.
The female cubs – named Rui Bao, or “wise treasure”, and Hui Bao, “shining treasure” – were born at the Everland theme park near the capital Seoul on July 7, and have since been showered with an outpouring of excitement and affection.
Some half a million panda lovers helped choose their names via online voting, the zoo said, with a handful of lucky fans invited to Thursday’s ceremony.
Lee Da-young, a 20-year-old university student, said it was her third visit to the zoo in two months to see the pandas.
“I’ve always liked pandas, so I came to Everland last week and also a month ago,” Lee said. “But I’m honoured to have come again on such a great opportunity.
“They are even cuter in real life than they appear on screen,” she said.
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