customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

summary

updatedDate

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Fiona Sun

Researchers at Hong Kong’s Ocean Park have discovered how An An, the world’s oldest male giant panda under human care, conserved energy with its movement patterns in a research study the team has said can be used to improve the animals’ living environment.
The Ocean Park team released on Friday the research findings based on more than two years of observations of the bear before it died.
Researchers added they would also carry out similar behavioural observations and analyses on the new pair of giant pandas gifted by Beijing before improvement works would be considered for their home within the park.
“Science of animal welfare is a developing field. We test and try to come up with new solutions to help our animals and measure how we can do that constantly,” said Dr Eszter Matrai, senior research fellow of the Ocean Park who led the research.
“This is just a new tool that potentially could help and can be implemented for other animal exhibits as well,” she added.
An An died in July 2022 at the age of 35 – the equivalent of 105 years in human age.
He arrived in Hong Kong in March 1999 together with Jia Jia, the world’s oldest giant panda in captivity at the time of her death in 2016 at the age of 38. The pair were the first two pandas sent to the city by Beijing.
The research team tracked An An’s activities, movement patterns and habitat preferences between July 2019 and January 2022, with a total of 422.5 hours of observation time across 169 observation days before he died.
The team found that An An spent 35 per cent of his time being active.
Matrai said the study contributed to the limited research on the behaviours of old animals, adding that most of the previous studies only focused on veterinary medicine.
“We were focusing on An An’s habitat use and behaviour in these last two years and this makes the study one of the very few that’s focusing on behaviour for all animals,” she said.

The team examined An An’s preferences across a total of 15 pathways, including both gentle and steep slopes, in two habitat zones at the Ocean Park through live observations and video analyses.
Researchers found that the bear efficiently conserved energy by favouring locations near his den, and preferred gentle slopes when ascending and steeper paths while descending.
The movement patterns led him to cover greater distances while moving uphill than downhill, which mirrored behaviours seen in wild giant pandas, according to researchers.
“When he was walking up here he would choose the slope that was gentle, so he walked a longer way around the exhibit,” Matrai said. “But when he was coming back down, he sometimes chose and preferred a shorter way down so he could get his food or any of his favourite enrichment and to save energy.”

Matrai said their new pathway analysis method helped assess the physical health of the animals under human care, and the research outcomes could also enhance the welfare of giant pandas by suggesting improvements in exhibit design to improve comfort for the bears.
She said desirable items like food could be placed in specific areas at the habitat zone to stimulate interactions and optimise habitat use of the animals.
She added that the method developed by the team could also be adapted to study other species and used by other facilities.
The study was published in July in the journal Zoo Biology.
Earlier in July, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced that Beijing was gifting a new pair of giant pandas to Hong Kong to mark the 27th anniversary of the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty.
Besides An An and Jia Jia, Beijing also sent another pair of giant pandas, Ying Ying and Le Le, to Hong Kong in 2007 to mark the 10th anniversary of its handover. Le Le is 19 years old while Ying Ying will also turn 19 on August 16.


Hong Kong monastery suspends kitchen staff suspected of kidnapping, abandoning 2 dogs

Hong Kong actress turned lawyer doubles HK$100,000 reward for clues on 2 missing dogs

HK$100,000 reward for clues on 2 dogs allegedly bagged, taken from Hong Kong monastery

Animal welfare is still a work in progress in Hong Kong

Animal welfare in Hong Kong

Panda movement study: Hong Kong’s Ocean Park team discovers An An’s energy-saving habits

Giant male panda An An at Ocean Park in 2004. A two-year research was conducted before the bear died in 2022. Photo: Robert Ng

Eszter Matrai (third from left), Ocean Park’s senior research fellow, poses for pictures with the research team and Le Le in the background. Photo: Dickson Lee

Wreaths are laid to remember An An after he died in 2022. Photo: Felix Wong

Hong Kong can use ‘panda economy’ to drum up business amid arrival of 2 new bears: minister

Ying Ying, one of the giant pandas already living at Ocean Park. Photo: Elson Li

Chief Executive John Lee (left) earlier visited Sichuan province to meet the two giant pandas being gifted to Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

‘Agile’ and ‘adorable’ giant pandas set for Hong Kong will be young, fit to reproduce: John Lee

City leader John Lee led a delegation to Sichuan province on Sunday. Photo: Handout

City leader John Lee has discussed panda preparations during his trip to Sichuan. Photo: Facebook/John Lee

John Lee hopes Hong Kong can welcome giant pandas by National Day on October 1

Chief Executive John Lee arrived in Sichuan on Sunday. Photo: Facebook/John Lee

The new pandas will join Ying Ying (pictured) and Le Le at Ocean Park. Photo: Elson Li

News

Hong Kong

Society

Researchers say findings from two-year study on world’s oldest male giant panda in captivity can improve the animals’ ‘exhibit design’


Researchers say findings from two-year study on world’s oldest male giant panda in captivity can improve the animals’ ‘exhibit design’.


Ocean Park

Animals

China