Hong Kong – Hong Kong’s First giant pandas born locally Finally they have been named and introduced as Jia Jia and De.
The names of the puppies, affectionately known as “Sister Elder” and “Little Brother”, were announced on Tuesday at a ceremony in Ocean Park, the theme park that houses them, their parents and two others Giant pandas arriving from China Continental last year.
The names were the winning suggestions of the residents in a Name contest That attracted more than 35,700 tickets.
The Chinese character “Jia”, of the name of the puppy “Jia Jia”, has a message of support and presents a family element and a feeling of auspicious grace. The name embodies the prosperity of the families and the nation and happiness of the people, the park said.
The Chinese “” of “the name of the male puppy, means being successful, carrying the connotation that Hong Kong is successful in everything. It also has the same pronunciation as the Chinese character for virtue, the park said, suggesting that giant pandas have virtues appreciated by the Chinese.
The president of Ocean Park, Paulo Pong, said they followed the tradition using the mandarin pronunciation for the English names of the pandas. He said “Jia” sounds like a word in the Cantonese term for the older sister, while “from” it sounds a bit like the cantonese phrase for the little brother. The Cantonese is the mother tongue of many Hong Kongers.
“It’s a very positive pair of names,” he said. “We have to be a bit creative here with the names.”
The puppies, who live with their mother, attracted many visitors on Tuesday. Jia Jia explored a rock and walked around her area, while a tree climbed.
Visitor Polly Luk, a Panda lover with an annual pass to the park, spent an hour in the row to see the puppies.
“I am so used to their old names. Even now they have new names, I will call them ‘Elder Sister’ and ‘Hermanito’,” Luk said.
The birth of the twins in August made their mother, Ying Ying, the oldest Panda Mother in the world. Its popularity among residents, visitors and social networks increased the hopes of a tourist impulse in the city, where politicians promoted commercial opportunities as The “panda economy”.
Observers are observing whether six -pandas accommodation helps the park relive their business, especially when taking care of animals in captivity is expensive. Ocean Park recorded a deficit of 71.6 million dollars from Hong Kong ($ 9.2 million) the financial year last year.
The park recorded a growth of almost 40% in the flow of visitors and an increase of 40% in general revenues during a five -day vacation from May 1 in Continental China, said Pong, who expects the boost of growth to continue during the summer, Halloween and Christmas seasons.
Pandas are considered the unofficial national pet of China. The country’s giant panda loan program with zoos abroad has been seen for a long time as a Beijing’s tool Soft power diplomacy.
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Associated Press’s video journalist Alice Fung contributed to this report.
