Visitors to Thailand ‘could be in for a rare sight’

Holidaymakers in Thailand heading to Chiang Mai may be lucky enough to see a new surprise addition that arrived at the zoo this week (May 27th).

Holidaymakers in Thailand heading to Chiang Mai may be lucky enough to see a new surprise addition that arrived at the zoo this week (May 27th).

A healthy panda cub was born in the northern Thailand zoo, but was a surprise to keepers at the park, the Associated Press reported.

“We didn’t know what the problem was,” zoo caretaker Thananpat Pongamorn told the newswire.

Staff had seen no signs that she was expecting a cub and “she did not want to get close to caretakers or any other people,” said Mr Thananpat.

The cub was born to seven-year-old Lin Hui who had been artificially inseminated in February.

“She cuddles, licks and holds the baby very carefully all the time,” Sophon Dumnui, director of the Zoological Park Organisation told Channel 3 television, the Guardian reported.

Only around 1,600 pandas live in the wild, mostly in the Sichuan province of China that was badly hit by an earthquake last year.