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Lo Hoi-ying

Giant panda Ying Ying is recovering slowly post-partum at Hong Kong’s Ocean Park while her two-month-old twin cubs have grown at a remarkable rate, experts have said.
Ying Ying – the world’s oldest first-time panda mother – had made a 70 to 80 per cent recovery since giving birth on August 15, her caretaking team revealed on Monday.
Howard Chuk Hau-chung, head of zoological operations and conservation at the park, said the twins had grown a lot since birth.
“The elder female cub weighs 2.7kg [6lbs] while the younger male cub is around 2.54kg,” he said.
The cubs weighed around 100 grams when they were born.
“They opened their eyes in early October and have grown more hair since,” Chuk said. “They no longer need to be in an incubator and can regulate their body temperature under normal indoor conditions.”

He said both of them had developed stronger mobility in their limbs and could crawl around their cots.
The park in Wong Chuk Hang on Monday also posted exclusive photos on social media accounts of the cubs.
The younger cub, nicknamed “Little Brother”, pecks “Elder Sister” on the cheek in one photo, while the twins snuggle up in a cot in another, delighting internet users.
The caretaking team and Ying Ying are taking turns to look after the cubs, rotating every seven to 10 days.
Assistant curator Elke Wu, one of Ying Ying’s caretakers, said the first-time mother would need more time and had only recovered about 70 to 80 per cent two months after delivering the twins.
“She will appear to be very tired and have no appetite and mood swings,” Wu said.
“We have to keep experimenting to see what she likes to consume or deliver her food in different ways so that she will eat.”

Wu added that Ying Ying’s maternal instincts had become much stronger and she was sensitive to any sound that her cubs made.
“Although she is taking care of one of the twins in her enclosure when she hears the other cub make a sound from afar, she will still react immediately,” she said.
Wu said Ying Ying had not been taking care of both cubs at the same time and her ability to do so would depend on the development of her maternal behaviour.
“There is a chance they can be together once the cubs grow older and become more stable, and Ying Ying is more confident,” she said.
The twins do not have official names yet. Caretakers said they called them by their nicknames despite the cubs being deaf.
“They develop their sense of hearing when they are two to 2½ months old,” Chuk said.
He said the public might be able to meet the cubs when they turn six months old as soon as Lunar New Year in January, pending on growth development.
Ying Ying delivered the twins at Ocean Park in the early hours of August 15.
She is the world’s oldest giant panda to successfully reproduce for the first time in captivity. Ying Ying gave birth one day shy of her 19th birthday, equivalent to 57 human years.
Ocean Park hailed the twins’ birth as “a true rarity”.


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“Little Brother” (left) and and “Elder Sister” snuggle up in a cot. Photo: Ocean Park

Younger cub “Little Brother” pecks “Elder Sister” on the cheek. Photo: Ocean Park

Giant panda Ying Ying together with her male cub at Ocean Park. Credit: Ocean Park

Panda Watch: Hong Kong cubs starting to develop their own distinctive features

Elder Sister (left) and Little Brother. Photo: Ocean Park

Panda-themed merchandise at Ocean Park. Photo: Jelly Tse

Moko’s electronic panda display has been mocked by some social media users. Photo: Eugene Lee

Ocean Park has started serving panda-themed desserts. Photo: Dickson Lee

Panda Watch: Hong Kong twins ‘starting to see the world’, graduate from incubators to cots

Normally, one cub spends time with a caretaker as the other is nursed by Ying Ying, who is learning the ropes of motherhood. Photo: Ocean Park

The two cubs were also captured in a rare moment together, with the “Elder Sister” placing her paw on her brother’s arm. Photo: Ocean Park

“Elder Sister” now weighs more than 1.6kg. Photo: Ocean Park

Naming contest for giant pandas gifted to Hong Kong by Beijing open to public

Ke Ke (left) and An An, the giant pandas gifted by Beijing, are expected to be ready to meet the Hong Kong public around Christmas, at the earliest. Photo: Bifengxia Panda Base

An An, one of the giant pandas gifted to Hong Kong, peers out of his transport crate at Hong Kong airport. Photo: Elson Li

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Hong Kong

Ocean Park’s Howard Chuk says the cubs have developed stronger mobility in their limbs and can move around their cots


Ocean Park’s Howard Chuk says the cubs have developed stronger mobility in their limbs and can move around their cots.


Hong Kong’s pandas