The competition to name the twin cubs, born Aug. 15, launched Saturday following a celebratory ceremony attended by Hong Kong leader John Lee and other officials at Ocean Park, the theme park that houses the twins, their parents and two other giant pandas that arrived from mainland China last year.
Ocean Park’s chairman Paulo Pong told reporters on Saturday that the park already saw income increases over the Christmas period and Lunar New Year holiday, alongside an uptake in overseas tourists, after the newly arrived pandas from mainland China started to greet the public.
Lee said the southern Chinese city now has the largest number of pandas in captivity outside of mainland China, and the cubs’ names would be announced in the first half of this year.
Ocean Park recorded a deficit of 71.6 million Hong Kong dollars ($9.2 million) last financial year, and in 2020 required a government relief fund to stay afloat.
Panda craze has once again gripped Hong Kong as residents compete to name the territory’s first locally-born giant panda cubs who just turned six months old.
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