Hong Kong’s first regionally born big pandas have lastly been named and launched as Jia Jia and De De.
The names of the cubs, affectionately generally known as “Elder Sister” and “Little Brother,” have been introduced Tuesday in a ceremony at Ocean Park, the theme park housing them, their mother and father and two different big pandas that arrived from mainland China final yr.
The names have been the successful recommendations from residents in a naming contest that drew greater than 35,700 entries.
The Chinese language character “Jia,” from the feminine cub’s identify “Jia Jia,” carries a message of help and options a component of household and a way of auspicious grace. The identify embodies the prosperity of households and the nation and the happiness of the individuals, the park stated.
RELATED STORY | Cat survives 380-foot fall that killed 2 hikers in Bryce Canyon Nationwide Park
The Chinese language character “De,” from the male cub’s identify, means to succeed, carrying the connotation that Hong Kong is profitable in all the pieces. De additionally has the identical pronunciation because the Chinese language character for advantage, the park stated, suggesting big pandas possess virtues cherished by Chinese language individuals.
Ocean Park chairman Paulo Pong stated they adopted custom through the use of Mandarin pronunciation for the pandas’ English names. He stated “Jia” appears like a phrase within the Cantonese time period for elder sister, whereas “De De” sounds a bit just like the Cantonese phrase for little brother. Cantonese is the mom language of many Hong Kongers.
“It is a very optimistic pair of names,” he stated. “Now we have to be a bit artistic right here with the names.”
The cubs, who reside with their mother, attracted crowds of holiday makers on Tuesday. Jia Jia explored a rock and walked round their space, whereas De De climbed a tree.
Customer Polly Luk, a panda lover with an annual move to the park, spent an hour in line to see the cubs.
“I’m so used to their outdated names. Even now they’ve new names, I am going to nonetheless name them ‘Elder Sister’ and ‘Little Brother’,” Luk stated.
The twins’ beginning in August made their mom, Ying Ying, the world’s oldest first-time panda mother. Their recognition amongst residents, guests and on social media raised hopes for a tourism enhance within the metropolis, the place politicians touted the industrial alternatives because the “panda financial system.”
Observers are watching whether or not housing six pandas helps the park revive its enterprise, particularly when caring for the animals in captivity is pricey. Ocean Park recorded a deficit of 71.6 million Hong Kong {dollars} ($9.2 million) final monetary yr.
The park recorded an almost 40% development in customer circulation and 40% improve in total revenue throughout a five-day vacation starting Might 1 in mainland China, stated Pong, who hopes the expansion momentum will proceed via summer time, Halloween and Christmas seasons.
Pandas are thought-about China’s unofficial nationwide mascot. The nation’s big panda mortgage program with abroad zoos has lengthy been seen as a instrument of Beijing’s soft-power diplomacy.
