Exclusive | New pandas in Hong Kong? Ocean Park, city in discussions about obtaining pair from Beijing
- Park’s chairman tells Post that attraction’s caretakers, facilities and track record put it in good position to welcome animals
- Beijing previously presented Hong Kong with two pairs of pandas as gifts – An An and Jia Jia in 1999, and Ying Ying and Le Le in 2007
Ocean Park and Hong Kong authorities are in discussions about obtaining two giant pandas from Beijing after the first pair died of old age, the attraction’s chief has said.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, park chairman Paulo Pong Kin-yee said that it already had a team of caretakers, the right facilities and a track record of looking after four pandas.
“We are confident we will have new pandas settling down at the park, but I am not sure about the timing,” Pong said on Tuesday. “Hong Kong people grew up with the pandas and it was a memorable journey.”
Beijing previously presented Hong Kong with two pairs of pandas as gifts – An An and Jia Jia in 1999, and Ying Ying and Le Le in 2007.
Jia Jia and An An were each known as the oldest giant pandas in captivity when they were put down in 2016 and 2022, respectively.
The two remaining pandas, Ying Ying and Le Le, are aged 17, which is the equivalent of 51 human years.
Both of the pairs failed to reproduce any offspring.
