A pair of twin pandas born at Ocean Park on Aug.15 are thriving well, according to park officials at a news conference on Monday.
The female now weighs 2.7 kg and her brother weighs about 2.5 kg.
“When the panda twins are 6 months old, around the Lunar New Year, they will have the opportunity to meet the public,” said Ocean Park.
Howard Chuk, head of the park's Zoological Operations and Conservation, said the panda twins opened their eyes earlier this month, and are now making powerful sounds.
“At this time, the baby panda's hearing is also developing rapidly, so we try to let Ying Ying ( the mother) participate in caring for the cubs,” he said,“ but due to the large weight difference between Ying Ying and her children, we usually use a golf club to separate them, and when necessary, we will use a club to remove the twins.”
In 2007, female panda Ying Ying and male panda Le Le settled in Hong Kong's Ocean Park. According to Ocean Park, Ying Ying gave birth to a pair of twins on 15 August 2024 when she was 19, the first pair of pandas born in Hong Kong.
Ying Ying is the oldest panda on record to give birth for the first time.
Mandy Yan, senior supervisor of Zoological Operations, said it’s difficult to tell the twins apart.
“But if you look closely, you will find the female with messy hair on the head and the male with rounder dark circles under his eyes,” she said, “and the male's voice is more powerful.”
Elke Wu, assistant curator of Zoological Operations, said the mother, Ying Ying is about 80 percent recovered from giving birth.
“Ying Ying is a picky eater. Our team prepared electrolyte water for her, and hopes she can take more water,” said Wu.
“Ying Ying knows that she can rely on us, which is very important during her recovery period,” she added.
Beijing has given three pairs of pandas to Hong Kong. Before Ying Ying and Le Le, the first pair of pandas An An and Jia Jia arrived in Hong Kong in 1999. The third pair of pandas An An and Ke Ke were sent to Ocean Park earlier this year.
《The Young Reporter》
The Young Reporter (TYR) started as a newspaper in 1969. Today, it is published across multiple media platforms and updated constantly to bring the latest news and analyses to its readers.
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