Panda pair doing well at Hong Kong home

Currently, caretakers feed An An and Ke Ke four meals a day, much the same as they had in Sichuan, and they are getting accustomed to bamboo from Guangdong Province.

HONG KONG, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- It's been a week since a new panda pair's arrival in Hong Kong and the two chubby ones gifted by the central government to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) were well adapting to their new life at Ocean Park Hong Kong.

The pair was currently in a 30-day quarantine period, after which they will need to acclimatize to another venue for about a month, before they meet the public in December this year at the earliest, park officials told a briefing on Thursday.

Video footage from the Ocean Park showed frisky An An sitting on the ground, playing with and eating bamboo, and Ke Ke quietly eating carrots.

Male panda An An is more adventurous, open and adaptive to new things, while female Ke Ke is more reserved and timid, curious about sounds, said Matt Leung, assistant curator of Ocean Park's animal care team, who went to the pair's hometown in Sichuan as early as mid-July to make friends with them.

A naming campaign for the two pandas kicked off on Wednesday across Hong Kong and is expected to run until the end of this month.

Currently, caretakers feed An An and Ke Ke four meals day, much the same as they had in Sichuan, and they are getting accustomed to bamboo from Guangdong province.

The two pandas are currently in stable condition with normal appetite and behavior, and the care team and veterinarians will continue monitoring their food intake and bowel movements on a daily basis, said Howard Chuk Hau-chung, head of zoological operations and conservation at the park, on Thursday.

The veterinarians will then arrange for them full physical examinations, encourage them to explore natural plants in the playground, use the jungle gym, and so on, to develop different natural behaviors, Chuk added.

To help them fight homesickness and make themselves at home in Hong Kong, Leung said caretakers will mainly speak Cantonese, but will use Mandarin or Sichuan dialect when calling their names. "Hopefully through such daily talks, An An and Ke Ke can recognize their voices and establish a bond with them so as to enhance mutual trust and a sense of security," he said.

A more precise date to meet the public will be determined according to their adaptation, park officials said. ■