Hong Kong welcomed a new pair of giant pandas, An An and Ke Ke, gifted by Beijing in a grand ceremony, with the aim of boosting tourism in the city. An An and Ke Ke are the third panda pair sent to Hong Kong since the city’s return to Chinese rule in 1997. With the arrival of the new pandas, Hong Kong now houses six pandas, including the twins and their father, Le Le. The city celebrated the arrival of the new panda pair with a lavish ceremony, raising hopes for increased tourism.
An An, a 5-year-old male panda, is described as agile, intelligent, and active, while Ke Ke, a 5-year-old female, is known for being good at climbing, cute, and having a gentle temperament. The new pandas will undergo two months of quarantine and adjust to their new home at Ocean Park, a popular zoo and aquarium in Hong Kong. Chief Executive John Lee expressed hope that the public would be able to meet the new pandas in mid-December. There are plans for residents to propose new names that showcase the pandas’ characteristics in October.
Pandas are widely recognized as China’s unofficial national mascot. Beijing’s giant panda loan program with overseas zoos is considered a tool of soft-power diplomacy. While pandas are only found in China’s southwest and are under threat from development, caring for them in captivity is expensive. A zoo in Finland agreed to return two loaned giant pandas to China ahead of schedule due to the high costs of care amidst declining visitors. Hong Kong’s Ocean Park has been hosting pandas since 1999, when the first pair, An An and Jia Jia, arrived shortly after the city was handed back to China.
Ying Ying, the twin’s new neighbor, recently gave birth to twins and became the world’s oldest first-time panda mother on record. The addition of the new pandas, twins, and Le Le brings the total number of pandas in Hong Kong to six. Tourism industry representatives are optimistic about the potential impact of housing six pandas, with hopes that it will attract more visitors to Hong Kong. Officials are encouraging businesses to capitalize on the popularity of the new bears and newborn cubs to take advantage of opportunities in what some lawmakers are calling the “panda economy”.
The giant panda An An passed away in 2022 at the age of 35 following a decline in health. The panda had been rescued from the wild in the 1980s and lived at the Ocean Park in Hong Kong since 1999 before passing away due to multiple organ failure. An An was a beloved member of the park and will be deeply missed by both staff and visitors. The loss of An An marks the end of an era for the panda population at the Ocean Park, but his memory will live on in the hearts of those who cared for him.
