The names of the cubs, who will make their public debut on Sunday, might be introduced within the first half of this yr.
HONG KONG, — Panda craze has as soon as once more gripped Hong Kong as residents compete to call the territory’s first locally-born big panda cubs who simply turned six months previous.
The competitors to call the dual cubs, born Aug. 15, launched Saturday following a celebratory ceremony attended by Hong Kong chief John Lee and different officers at Ocean Park, the theme park that homes the twins, their dad and mom and two different big pandas that arrived from mainland China final yr. Residents can submit their ideas through the park’s web site.
Lee stated the southern Chinese language metropolis now has the most important variety of pandas in captivity outdoors of mainland China, and the cubs’ names can be introduced within the first half of this yr.
The pair, at present recognized because the “Elder Sister” and the “Little Brother,” will make their public debut on Sunday and meet guests for 5 hours day by day. Those that wish to take pleasure in time with the cubs outdoors common visiting hours, earlier than the park opens, will pay 1,500 Hong Kong {dollars} (about $190).
Throughout a media preview session on Saturday, the male cub laid on a swing enjoying with a tree stick earlier than a carer positioned him on a slide. The feminine cub explored the enclosure earlier than climbing onto a tree.
The panda carers stated the feminine cub appeared extra lively than her male twin. She loves climbing the tree contained in the enclosure and resting there whereas her brother likes to wander round and play with the vegetation. The male cub has been marked with two purple food-coloring spots on its again to tell apart it from his sister.
The beginning of the newborn pandas final yr made their mom Ying Ying the world’s oldest first-time panda mother.
Their recognition on social media additionally raised hopes for the town’s tourism enhance. Officers have inspired companies to capitalize on the panda craze to grab alternatives in what some lawmakers have dubbed the “panda economic system.”
Ocean Park’s chairman Paulo Pong advised reporters on Saturday that the park already noticed revenue will increase over the Christmas interval and Lunar New Yr vacation, alongside an uptake in abroad vacationers, after the newly arrived pandas from mainland China began to greet the general public.
“We’re turning the web page and we consider the pandas are positively serving to the revenue of the park,” he stated.
However caring for pandas in captivity is dear. Ocean Park recorded a deficit of 71.6 million Hong Kong {dollars} ($9.2 million) final monetary yr, and in 2020 required a authorities reduction fund to remain afloat. Observers are watching if caring for six pandas will add to its burden or give it an opportunity to revive its enterprise.
Pong stated elevating pandas was about animal conservation and training, as an alternative of “only a cash train.”
Pandas are thought-about China’s unofficial nationwide mascot. The nation’s big panda mortgage program with abroad zoos has lengthy been seen as a device of Beijing’s soft-power diplomacy.
