Giant Panda Lin Ping Celebrates 3rd Birthday

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Giant panda Lin Ping celebrates 3rd birthday

CHIANG MAI, June 27- Chiang Mai Zoo on Wednesday held a party to celebrate the third birthday of Lin Ping, the first giant panda born in Thailand, while the government is seeking an extension of Lin Ping’s stay here for three more years.

Zoo director Thanapat Pong-amorn together with visitors and other panda fans joined the birthday celebration for Lin Ping, who is three years and one month old.

Popular panda Lin Hui gave birth to Lin Ping on May 27, 2009 after years of attempted artificial insemination and efforts to encourage her parents, Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui, to mate at the Chiang Mai Zoo.

Her name was selected from millions sent in on postcards to the zoo. “Lin” comes from the first syllable of her mom’s name, while “Ping” is the name of the main river of Chiang Mai.

The 107kg giant panda is now healthy and greatly developed, Prasertsak Boontrakulpuntawee, chief of the Chiang Mai Zoo’s panda research project, revealed.

Regarding the possible longer stay of Lin Ping in Thailand, Mr Prasertsak said that the zoo was informed by the Foreign Ministry that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao discussed on this issue. Thai and Chinese officials will meet in September to discuss details of the contract to extend Lin Ping's stay for another three years.

In the wake of the Euro 2012 football tournament fever, zoo keepers prepared balls and national flags of Spain, Portugal, Germany and Italy—the national teams competing in the upcoming semi-final matches-- for Lin Ping, as a psychic animal, to predict the results.

The female panda chose German and Spanish national flags, guessing that Germany will beat Italy and Spain will defeat Portugal.

If Lin Ping's prediction turns out to be correct, the panda will predict the result of the Euro 2012 final match as well, Mr Prasertsak said.

In 2010, the Thai-born panda correctly predicted that Spain would win the World Cup. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-06-27