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Pandas
ChinaPolitics

China’s giant pandas at Chengdu base will take Mondays off from tourists starting Christmas Day

  • ‘Baby giant panda villa’ to be shut every Monday from December 25, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding announces on its website
  • Crowd control measure, the second announced within days, aims to protect health and well-being of the vulnerable animals, centre managers say

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Celebrity giant panda Huahua has an emoji to her name and fans follow her every movement on social media. Photo: Weibo/大熊猫和花我的宝
Phoebe Zhang
The giant pandas at a popular breeding centre in southwest China will take a weekly day off from meeting tourists starting Christmas Day, in the second crowd control measure announced within a week.

“Starting on December 25, the baby giant panda villa, which has a high number of visitors, will be closed every Monday,” the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding said on its website on Friday. “It will not be open to tourists, please plan your tour accordingly.”

The decision to close the popular enclosure for a day was aimed at better safeguarding the health and welfare of the once endangered animals, the centre’s managers said.

A previous announcement on Monday said the centre would no longer sell tickets through travel agencies. From January 1, tickets can only be reserved through official channels – such as the centre’s website or its WeChat social media account.

The tighter controls are in response to the huge popularity of giant pandas and the high numbers of visitors the base receives each year.

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