Red panda population at Hong Kong Ocean Park to increase, as more on the way from mainland China
- ‘If we have a bigger [red panda] population at Ocean Park, we can expand our level of deliverables to breeding and research,’ director says
- The three red pandas already at the park will have their stay extended by 20 years, according to agreement
More red pandas are on the way to Hong Kong, while the three currently at Ocean Park will have their stay extended, the tourist attraction has revealed.
The Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Ocean Park Corporation signed an agreement on Friday at an event kicking off the 2023 Sichuan Nature Conservation Week.
The three red pandas are having their stay extended as the park expands its “scope of activities” from just exhibition purposes to more scientific endeavours. The agreement covers the loan of the resident red pandas for another 20 years.
“If we have a bigger [red panda] population at Ocean Park, we can expand our level of deliverables to breeding and research, and more opportunities to promote this precious species in Hong Kong,” foundation director Howard Chuk Hau-chung said.
“We are very confident [we can] do more, and I’m also very honoured that our partners in Sichuan trust us,” he said, adding that it was still unknown when the new red pandas would be delivered or how many.
Another five-year agreement to strengthen conservation efforts and introduce staff exchange and student internship programmes was also penned with the Forestry and Grassland Administration of Sichuan province.