Mainland giant panda pair gifted to Hong Kong to depart on Thursday

Male giant panda An An (left) and female giant panda Ke Ke gifted to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. (Photo/China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda)

A new pair of pandas from Chinese mainland will set off to Hong Kong on Thursday and settle down at the Ocean Park, and the new pair are likely to meet public in December this year.

John Lee, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), also announced on Tuesday that the new pair of pandas from China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province will undergo at least 30 days of quarantine at the Ocean Park upon their arrival in Hong Kong on Thursday. Afterwards, experts will assess their condition of adaptation and determine when they can be exhibited to the public, according to media reports.

Lee hopes that the new pair, also the third pair of giant pandas gifted to Hong Kong, will meet the public in December this year. He also mentioned that Hong Kong will hold a city-wide naming contest to welcome the pandas, inviting all Hong Kong residents to propose meaningful new names that can highlight their characteristics.

According to a cooperation agreement between the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Panda and the Ocean Park Hong Kong, the pair of pandas named An An and Ke Ke from the giant panda center will settle down at the Ocean Park Hong Kong, according to a statement released by the giant panda base on its WeChat account on Tuesday.

According to the statement, the male giant panda An An born in June of 2019 has a round face and long body, and weighs over 130 kilograms. It is an agile, smart and active boy, with an outgoing and lively temperament. The 100-kilogram female giant panda Ke Ke, originally named Tian Ke, was also born in June of 2019. She has a gentle temperament but is lively and active, skilled at climbing, a typical “tomboy” in the world of giant pandas.

Currently, both giant pandas are in good health and are undergoing quarantine at the Dujiangyan base of the center.

To ensure that the two giant pandas smoothly transition to Hong Kong and adapt to their new home, the center conducted a comprehensive health assessment. Meanwhile, experts and animal keepers from the center had in-depth exchanges with four keepers from the Ocean Park, who came to learn and participate in the care of the pandas, allowing the four keepers from the park to become familiar with the pandas’ temperaments and habits and to establish trust with them.

When the two giant pandas depart for Hong Kong, the center will also send a keeper and a veterinarian to accompany them and stay for a period of time to help the pandas get familiar with and adapt to their new home as soon as possible.

Currently, the center and Ocean Park are finalizing preparations for transporting the two pandas, ensuring they arrive safely and in good health.

Lee mentioned that the HKSAR government and Ocean Park have made preparations to help the giant pandas quickly adapt to their new environment. To help the pandas adjust to the bamboo types they will eat in Hong Kong, Ocean Park had transported bamboo grown in South China’s Guangdong Province to the Dujiangyan base in advance, allowing the pandas to gradually adapt.

On August 16, China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda and the representatives from the Ocean Park signed a cooperation agreement in Dujiangyan and reached a consensus on continuing collaborative efforts in giant panda conservation and research, according to a statement from the center.

According to the agreement, both parties will continue to strengthen cooperation in areas such as breeding management, reproductive research, disease prevention, science popularization education and cultural promotion, in an effort to elevate the conservation and research level of giant pandas and make new contributions to deepening the ties between Hong Kong and the mainland, the statement said.