<p>Giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia are now in Singapore.
<p>They arrived from China on Thursday morning to a welcoming party of 60 guests that included Mr Teo Ser Luck, Minister of State (Trade and Industry), chairman of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) Claire Chiang, and former President S.R. Nathan, chairman of CapitaLand Hope Foundation, reported The Straits Times.
<p>Before they left Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, a large crowd of visitors were at the Ya'an panda base to bid farewell to the pandas.
<p>They flew overnight on board a Singapore Airlines cargo plane that touched down at the Jet Quay CIP Terminal of the Changi Airport just after 8.20am.
<p>About 30 minutes later, two crates were lowered from the plane in front of guests that included government officials from MTI and corporate sponsors CapitaLand, reported The Straits Times.
<p>When they were opened, Kai Kai and Jia Jia were unveiled on the tarmac.
<p>For their flight, extra care was taken to minimise the stress on the animals as it was their first long distance trip away from home,.
<p>The truck they were transported on in China reportedly drove at a speed of 60km/h and they were kept cool in a refrigerated truck.
<p>Ninety kilogrammes of bamboo were prepared for the journey. A panda eats an average of 20kg of bamboo a day. In case they got hungry at night, bamboos were also placed near their crates.
<p>The crates were also placed in the middle of the 747 plane they flew in - which is the size of a basketball court - as it is the most stable part of the plane. This minimises the effects of turbulence.
<p>On board, there are five passenger seats, mainly for a vet from the Wildlife Reserves Singapore and four zookeepers, two each from Singapore and China. The keepers were there to take turns to take care of the pandas, while the vet monitors the pandas' health throughout the six-hour journey, according to a local news source.
<p>Kai Kai, 5, and Jia Jia, 4, are on loan to Singapore for the next ten years under the Giant Panda Collaborative Programme to foster diplomatic ties between the two countries.
<p><a href="mailto:spanaech@sph.com.sg">spanaech@sph.com.sg</a><p>
<a href="mailto:maryanns@sph.com.sg">maryanns@sph.com.sg</a>
