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The two giant pandas "An An" and "Ke Ke" donated by the central government are currently undergoing quarantine at the Jockey Club Sichuan Treasure Hall in Ocean Park Hong Kong. The two new members are still adjusting to their new living environment, and they are being cared for by a team of 30 people.
Ocean Park Hong Kong team taking care of giant pandas (Photo by Liang Yuan)
At a media conference on October 3, Director of Zoology and Conservation at Ocean Park Hong Kong, Zhu Xiaozhong, revealed that An An and Coco are in a 30-day quarantine period and are expected to be able to meet the public in December this year, although the exact timing depends on their adaptation.
Tang Hau-yin, assistant curator of the Zoological Department of Ocean Park Hong Kong, said that the diet of the two pandas has gradually adapted to the bamboo supply in Hong Kong, and the amount and frequency of food consumption have also stabilized. It is worth mentioning that they now eat four meals a day, and the proportion of Guangdong bamboo has risen from the original 3-40% to 6-70%.
The Ocean Park Hong Kong team takes care of the giant pandas
In order to facilitate the integration of the "new Hong Kong residents", the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government organised a giant panda naming competition, inviting the public to provide new names for "An An" and "Coco". The competition will run until 27 October, and all citizens in Hong Kong can get creative and give them more meaningful names.
According to Leung Ka Lun, assistant curator of the Zoology Department of Ocean Park Hong Kong, the team is helping the pandas adapt to their new environment through voice training. At this stage, it is still called "An'an" in Mandarin and "Keke" in Sichuan, and the cordial "call call" seems to have become a special communication code between them. Leung laughs and says he is slowly switching to Cantonese and giving the pandas new names through food rewards. He observed that An An was more active and exploratory, while Coco was more sensitive and needed more time to adjust to her new home.
In terms of health, the two pandas' eating, defecating, and resting time are all maintained at the same level as when they were at the Sichuan base. Zhu stressed that pandas do not need too much space, but an environment where they feel "safe". In the future, they will move to the Jockey Club Sichuan Treasure Museum, which is specially designed for pandas, where they can provide the most comfortable living conditions. As the climate in Hong Kong is hotter than in Sichuan, the temperature in the panda house is strictly maintained between 18 and 24 degrees Celsius to ensure that they can live in the most suitable environment.
Text & Video|Staff Writer Liang Yuan Photos|Courtesy of Ocean Park Hong Kong