Russia's First Female Panda Cub 'Katyusha' Gains Popularity
Everland Twins Rui and Hui to Be Revealed from the 4th
Not only Korea but also Russia has fallen for the charm of pandas. It is reported that 380,000 citizens participated in the naming contest for Russia's first female giant panda cub. On the 3rd (local time), Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, announced through social media (SNS) that “the name of the female giant panda cub born at the Moscow Zoo last August has been decided as ‘Katyusha.’”
The name 'Katyusha' from Tolstoy's 'Resurrection' heroine
Katyusha is the name of the heroine in the Russian literary giant Tolstoy’s novel Resurrection, and it is a representative Russian female name used as the title of a famous Soviet song during World War II. It is also known to have been used as the name of a rocket during the Soviet era.
In this contest, besides Katyusha, names such as ‘Momo,’ derived from the first syllable of Moscow, and ‘Masha,’ the name of a famous children’s animation character, were also in the running. Among the total of 10 candidates, Katyusha was adopted with the highest support from citizens at 29%.
Katyusha’s parents, 'Dingding' (female) and 'Lui' (male), were sent from China to Moscow in 2019 on a 15-year long-term lease to commemorate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and China. Katyusha, born between them, is Russia’s first female panda cub. However, for safety reasons, she currently lives in an enclosure with her mother Dingding, away from zoo visitors.
Mayor Sobyanin said, “Katyusha has many teeth and walks quite well,” adding, “According to the checkup, her weight is 8.67 kg and her body length including the tail is 79.5 cm.”
Twin pandas Lui and Hui to be publicly exhibited from the 4th
Everland revealed the youngest members of the panda family, twins "Ruibao (睿寶)" and "Huibao (輝寶)," to the media on the 3rd. The twin pandas are playing in the enclosure. They will be open to the public starting from the 4th. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@
In Korea, twin pandas Luibao and Huibao, born to Aibao and Lubao, will be open to the public starting from the 4th. The twins, born last July weighing 180g and 140g respectively, have now grown to weigh over 11 kg.
Everland plans to start public viewing of the twins in the indoor enclosure only during certain morning hours for the time being, considering their health condition, and gradually increase the viewing hours. Additionally, the number of visitors will be reduced during this period.
Due to the solitary nature of pandas, the eldest sister Pubao, who is already independent, cannot share the same space with her twin siblings. However, Pubao will be rotated in the enclosure so that visitors can continue to see her at Panda World.
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