Wow, 2 days and 2 new panda locations for me! Now it’s time to share about the giant pandas living in Zoo Negara Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur! Alike in Singapore, the pandas here are living in a purpose-built home, they are always kept indoors and there is temperature control, so it’s lovely and cool for the visitors too. For me, this was by far the best bit of the zoo, and while it was sometimes busy, it never felt too full and I was always able to get a spot to see the pandas – what helped here was that buggies/prams/pushchairs were not allowed in the building, and needed to be left outside, so this ensured the walkways inside were clear and having experience the opposite at many panda locations, this made for a better visit. There was always a staff member at the entrance, reminding about the rules for visiting the pandas, including that food and drink could not be brought in and that visitors needed to remain quiet. Inside there was also always either a staff member or a zoo volunteer also ensuring that the rules were abided to and making sure visitors quietened down if they were too loud. For me, it worked really well and I had a great visiting experience here!
Giant pandas arrived at Zoo Negara Malaysia in 2014 – for some reason I thought they had been living here for longer – on a 10 year loan. I actually booked this trip and was a little concerned that the pandas might move back to China before I took my trip, but luckily they were still there, and shortly after my visit an extension until 2027 has been granted. I am hoping maybe I can get back to visit again once more^ There have been 3 cubs born here, Nuan Nuan in 2016, Yi Yi in 2018 and Sheng Yi in 2021, all of whom have already returned to China – Sheng Yi was at Wolong Shenshuping when I was there in May 2024, but sadly didn’t come outside. So there are just the 2 parents living here, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to focus on the adults on a visit.
The panda building is very nice, you enter technically on the first floor and there are some education exhibits and also some information about where else to see pandas around the world (although this was from 2014 when the pandas moved here as the European panda scene is different now). From here there is also a window that looks out over the panda exhibit. You then head downstairs to enter the panda viewing – I didn’t see an elevator, but there may be one available, I only saw stairs to get down. Here, the panda viewing is open, so there is no glass between you and the pandas. There is a winding path through the middle which splits the two panda yards, one for the female and one for the male. And throughout there are more education signs, I especially liked the one highlighting the differences between the two pandas, this is something that is incredibly helpful and most places don’t do, so it was really appreciated – although I didn’t need any help identifying them because when I got there the male was lying with his legs open, so I could definitely tell that he was the male XD After viewing the pandas there are some more areas to see, including the kitchen with information on the pandas diet, and a nice display of Malaysian panda memorabilia, including their Giant Panda Global awards. There is then the panda shop, which was packed to the brim with all things panda – I didn’t end up buying anything, lots of things were generic panda-merch that I’ve seen in China, and there wasn’t a lot of choices of specifically the Malaysian pandas, which I would have liked. After the shop is the restaurant, it was very small here and always quite busy so I didn’t end up stopping. And then there were also toilets available here before the exit. The building works on a one-way system, so to see the pandas again you need to head back up the slight hill to get to the entrance, or to also pick up the buggy/pram/pushchair left there!
As I’m writing this, I’m feeling so relieved that I took the opportunity to go and see these pandas in Kuala Lumpur – it has just been announced that new MOUs have been signed and that a new pair of pandas will be sent on a 10 year loan to Zoo Negara Malaysia. So effective immediately, these two are in quarantine before they travel back to China. While there will be a new pair, and of course I will go and see them at some point, it was so nice to see these pandas^
Feng Yi 风仪
First up is female Feng Yi 风仪! She was born in 2006, making her 18.5 years old on my visit – but she sure didn’t seem like an older adult from how active she was, I think she has perhaps been the most active panda I’ve ever seen^ Based on all the water play and vocalisations, she was likely in heat/coming into season when I saw her. Honestly it just made me think that every panda should have a pool and waterfall in their home because she was having the best time playing in it and it made for such an amazing experience. And she’s a very beautiful panda, however it was hard to get pictures to highlight this because she was moving around so much. She was active when I arrived at the panda house, and pretty much didn’t stop until later in the afternoon – she was in the pool, walking her whole space, enjoying enrichment and did stop for a little bamboo at one point. Then later in the day she settled up on her giant wooden seat for a nap, and I could finally get my selfie with her XD Perhaps one day I will get to see her again in China.
Fu wa 福娃
And then there is male Fu Wa 福娃! He was born on the same day as Feng Yi, making him also 18.5 yrs old when I visited. While I was chatting to my new panda friends in Singapore, they told me Fu Wa is a very lazy panda, he’s always sleeping – so I went in with an expectation, and he completely met that XD While Feng Yi spent 3/4 of my visit active, Fu Wa spent all that time sleeping ontop of a climbing frame, and sometimes not in very modest positions, I really saw it all haha! But I just had to have patience as later in the afternoon it was time for food and his keepers managed to entice him down so they could put out bamboo and some treats, and then I finally got to see him in action – he also climbed and thoroughly enjoyed his meal. Really it was the perfect end to my visit. He’s a very handsome panda, and like Feng Yi, he’s very photogenic – once I eventually saw him awake I was very pleased with the photos I was able to get. Interestingly Fu Wa went for his bamboo first rather than his cake and enrichment treat, so everyone was standing wondering how much of the huge pile of bamboo he would eat so they could then see him climb up for the panda cake, he ate most of it but it was worth the wait to then see him climb and he even gave a swipe at his rubber duck which was fun to see too.
