The pending arrival of cubs at Ocean Park is an opportunity to contribute to the giant pandas' survival, says Suzanne Gendron, executive director for zoological operations and education, and director of Ocean Park Conservation Foundation
Our first pandas, An An and Jia Jia, were chosen for Hong Kong as education and conservation ambassadors and they have played that role well. But they were not breeding ambassadors. Jia Jia was past her prime because she had had six cubs successfully and An An was not a proven breeding panda.
We're very excited about the opportunity to contribute to panda conservation with future breeding. It's a great opportunity for the people of Hong Kong. We sincerely hope these new cubs will be great breeders and that they will be great ambassadors for conservation.
I came on board at Ocean Park when the arrival of the first pandas was imminent. My background is in marine biology, so I had a crash course in pandas at the Wolong Conservation Centre.
That was my first close-up experience with pandas. I spent a week with our animals. I had a chance to see them, touch them, and work with them on a daily basis, and it was quite captivating.
When pandas are youngsters, they are very playful and sociable. That stage will last close to four years. When they start reaching sexual maturity the female may stay with her mum, but really they are loners. They will overlap territory, but they won't socialise.
We will keep the young cubs together until their behaviour towards each other tells us it's time to separate them. We anticipate that's going to be another two years.
