New pandas in Hong Kong? Ocean Park, city in discussions about obtaining pair from Beijing

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 on Tuesday 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. “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.

Hong Kong’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau said it would consider the park’s proposal to request the animals from Beijing.

Hong Kong’s beloved giant panda An An euthanised at Ocean Park

“[The giant pandas] have always played an important role in promoting our country’s ecology and conservation culture,” it said.

Pong said the pandas were a core part of the theme park’s conservation and education operations as the company re-engineered its business model to stay financially sustainable.

The four-year-old, 1.9-metre (6-foot) female Siamese crocodile caught by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department in Yuen Long earlier this month was being quarantined on site as part of the park’s animal rescue efforts, he said.

But it was too early to know whether the reptile would stay at the park long term, as it would be observed for at least 30 days while awaiting blood and DNA test results to ascertain its species, he said.

Hongkongers want latest crocodile found to be housed at Wetland Park

Authorities were still investigating who owned the crocodile and how it arrived in Hong Kong, but reptile experts earlier said they believed it was smuggled in as a pet and later abandoned.

“We don’t encourage people to bring in animals to Hong Kong without a permit and then abandon them,” Pong said.

The department on Tuesday said it would consider options such as returning the crocodile to its place of origin or donating it to an NGO for education and conservation purposes.

Pong said the park had become a shelter for 390 animals over the past decade. A case in point is a pair of otters that authorities discovered in a smuggling case in 2018. The couple subsequently bred about 12 offspring and became a popular attraction.

Hong Kong’s Ocean Park reports HK$1.82 billion deficit but cash flow ‘healthy’

Following the government’s HK$5.4 billion (US$688 million) bailout in 2020 and fresh funding of HK$6.8 billion for a redevelopment plan in 2021, the park would be able to sustain its finances in the short and medium term if the recent growth in visitor numbers continued, he said.

Tourists have returned to the park since restriction-free travel with mainland China was restored in February.

Pong pointed to a 40 per cent jump in the number of solo visitors from the mainland and Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia in April from the month before.

“These free, independent travellers tend to spend more money when visiting the park,” he said.

Ocean Park lost HK$1.82 billion in the financial year ending June 30, 2022, widening from a HK$31.8 million deficit in 2021.

To create new sources of revenue and avoid raising entrance fees, the park has collaborated with partners to create temporary attractions in recent months, allowing it to charge visitors separately.

One example is a two-month show featuring creations of anime series Gundam by Japanese mechanical designer Okawara Kunio, which costs HK$448 per ticket and includes one-day access to all the park’s rides and attractions. A one-day pass to the park excluding the exhibition costs HK$498 per adult and HK$249 per child.

“This means we do not have to invest much into the these attractions, while sharing some income with our partners,” Pong said. “We will have more of these collaborations.”

Hong Kong cut tourism sector funding, despite HK$784 million grant to Ocean Park

Pong said the company was also in the process of revising a previous plan to redevelop the lowland area of the park into a recreation, dining and entertainment precinct without entry fees because of market changes.

“As for the redevelopment plan for the upper park area, we are open to tenders such as a zip line, a tree house or bungee jump,” he said, adding that the deadline to submit tenders would be in September.

Lawmaker Kenneth Leung Yuk-wai, who supported the proposed move to request a new pair of giant pandas, said the city could be positioned as a cultural and conservation exchange hub for the national treasures as Ocean Park had recognised experience in looking after them.