Pandas get a new home

Before they move in though, the public is being invited to explore every square inch of the dome, where the temperature is a chilly minus5 degrees Celcius.

"We plan to let visitors in first," panda project chief Prasertsak Boontrakulpoontawee said yesterday. "The pandas will move in around winter."

Visitors will enter the dome along a path built to resemble the Great Wall of China. Inside, they will be met by a large Chinesestyle house.

Cosy snow

Preparations for the pan¬das are almost complete. "All that's left is to bring in more fake snow," said Prasertsak.

Ever since the birth on Wednesday last week, Lin Hui has held her cub close.

"Most pandas hold their cub for a day or two," Prasertsak said. "Lin Hui is an unusually loving mother." 

As of yesterday, the cub had grown from its birth weight of 200 grams to 325 grams.

Mother and baby are not on direct public display.

"We may move Chuang Chuang to the snow dome first to see how he likes it, before moving the mother and her cub," said Prasertsak.