Giant panda sleeps through much of Indonesia media debut (Report)

BOGOR, Indonesia –  Giant panda Cai Tao was asleep for much of his debut before media in the Indonesian city of Bogor but occasionally perked up to eat bamboo.

Cai Tao and a much more active female, Hu Chen, were shown to reporters Wednesday as part of preparations for allowing the public to see them starting later this month.

The pair arrived in Indonesia in late September from Chengdu in China and were quarantined at Taman Safari zoo in Bogor, just outside the capital, Jakarta.

The zoo hopes the 7-year-olds will mate and add to the giant panda population.

It’s built a special enclosure and facilities that cost about 60 billion rupiah ($4.5 million).

Zoo director Jansen Manansang said he’s “very optimistic they can breed here next year or the year after.”