PREPARING FOOD and ensuring a comfortable environment is not the job description of caretakers of children in a day-care centre, but that of someone who tends to one of the most highly endangered creatures in the world.
Certainly, it is a job that is busier than you might expect. Imagine cutting 10kg to 14kg of bamboo for each of the giant pandas to munch every day.
These gentle, solitary bears have five to six meals a day. So, chopping up bamboo and preparing other supplements such as high-fibre biscuits, bamboo shoots, fruit and vegetables, and cleaning the habitat will keep panda keepers busy from 9am until noon.
Jacky Chui, who takes care of An An and Jia Jia at Ocean Park with three other team members, knows the job well.
Mr Chui, the theme park's giant panda and butterfly supervisor, said: 'My typical work day of nine hours here starts with arranging and co-ordinating people for the various tasks, such as food preparation, replacing food, medical behaviour training, and habitat inspection and cleaning.'
Also part of Mr Chui's routine is to make sure the habitat has the right temperature and the noise level is kept to the minimum. 'We have people from our team to monitor the habitat, making sure phones or other types of beeping device carried by visitors are turned to their lowest volume.'
When An An and Jia Jia are not eating, it is time for them to receive medical behaviour training that includes dental checks, blood tests and other examinations.