See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy JOE ROSSITER, REPORTER Published: 01:42 BST, 23 June 2026 | Updated: 02:56 BST, 23 June 2026
Dealing with a seven-month-old is difficult for any mother, perhaps especially so when her son is a national celebrity.Satrio Wiratama, known as Rio, was the first panda cub born in Indonesia after being conceived through artificial insemination from a couple brought to the country from China.After making his public debut last month, Rio has been pictured clambering over his mother and covering his eyes in a 'peekaboo' motion as he enjoys national stardom.The pandas live at the Indonesian Safari Park, which lies just outside the capital Jakarta, in a specially built enclosure.Rio's parents, Hu Chun and Cai Tao, arrived in Indonesia in 2017 as part of a 10-year conservation partnership with China.As an iconic Chinese symbol, pandas have been used as a soft-power tool to strengthen connections between Beijing and other countries.Breeding is a hard task with giant pandas - there are fewer than 1,900 in their wild Chinese habitats - and Rio was born using artificial insemination.Aswin Sumampau, president director of the park, previously said of Rio's birth: 'This is the moment we've all been waiting for, a small victory for us, as we've managed to breed a species that is extremely difficult to breed.'Just imagine, for the past two years, no pandas were born at any ex-situ conservation facility worldwide. Taman Safari has managed to do that,' Mr Sumampau added. Seven-month-old giant panda cub Rio clambers over his mother at the Indonesian safari park where they live Rio's mother Hu Chun was brought to Indonesia in 2017 with another giant panda as part of a conservation project with China Wake up mum! The cub made his public debut last month and has become well-known in Indonesia Peekaboo! Rio cheekily covers his eyes in a specially-built enclosure constructed for the giant pandas Giant pandas are notoriously difficult to breed and Rio is the first to be born in Indonesia The cub was conceived through artificial insemination almost a decade after his parents arrived in Indonesia The Panda Palace was built to house the couple, now a family, when they arrived in 2017 Rio's father, Cai Tao, pictured in the Panda Palace, which lies near the Indonesian capital Jakarta Rio scurries down a ladder in the Panda Palace as his mother looks on Visitors to the Panda Palace can learn about the species, which is native to China
