Ueno Zoo in Taito Ward, Tokyo, plans to hold a remote event to celebrate the birthday of Xiang Xiang, a giant panda who was born at the zoo and turns 3 on Friday.
Xiang Xiang is scheduled to be handed over to China by the end of this year. This will be her last birthday at the zoo, but the zoo has been closed for an extended period due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. The zoo is planning an online "remote birthday celebration" event. It also aims to reopen by the end of June through steps such as introducing a reservation system for visitors.
Xiang Xiang has gained about 20 kilograms over the past year and weighed 81.4 kilograms as of last Friday. She is slightly smaller than an adult panda, eats bamboo shoots well and especially likes apples.
"She is well and spends time bathing outdoors and resting in elevated areas," a zoo official said.
The zoo, formally known as Ueno Zoological Gardens, has been closed since Feb. 29. As the state of emergency was lifted in May, the zoo is looking into when to reopen, but concerns over the so-called "three Cs" -- closed spaces, crowded spaces and close-contact settings -- remain. About 20,000 people usually visit the zoo on holidays, and long lines form in front of the panda enclosure where Xiang Xiang lives with her father, Ri Ri, and her mother, Shin Shin, both aged 14. On Xiang Xiang's birthday last year, visitors waited for up to three hours to see her.
Considering this, besides the reservation system, the zoo intends to use a system that will be introduced by the Tokyo metropolitan government using QR codes, in which visitors will be notified if infection cases are confirmed at major locations where they were present. The zoo is also speeding up preparations to rehire part-time workers.
On Xiang Xiang's birthday this Friday, the zoo plans to upload a special video to its website, which shows how she has grown from birth to present, as well as encouraging people to post congratulatory comments on its Twitter account.
"The pandas are Ueno's treasures. It's disappointing that we can't celebrate [Xiang Xiang's] birthday throughout the area, but I want to celebrate it in my heart," said Tadao Futatsugi, 66, chairman of the Ueno Tourism Federation, which leads the whole Ueno area in celebrating her birthday every year by creating special celebratory items.
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