(February 10, 2010 – Hong Kong) Ocean Park Hong Kong (“Ocean Park”) expressed its heart-felt thanks today to the South Australian Government for their generous gift of two young koalas to Hong Kong. The two young koalas, one male and one female, both with breeding potential, are expected to arrive in Hong Kong from South Australia within the next two years. They will become permanent residents of Ocean Park and will serve as important conservation ambassadors for visitors around the world.
Last November, representatives from the South Australian Government paid a visit to Ocean Park and were left with an excellent impression of Park’s animal facilities, education programs and conservation efforts. As a result, they are confident that Ocean Park can aid them in expanding their network in communicating koala conservation messages to visitors from around the world. With this confidence, they have decided to present a pair of koalas as gifts to Hong Kong and have appointed Ocean Park as the new home of choice for the animals.
Ocean Park Chairman, Dr Allan Zeman, said, “We are absolutely thrilled and grateful for this precious gift from the South Australian Government. We are equally thankful to the Hong Kong SAR Government (“HKSAR Government”) for their continual support and encouragement towards Ocean Park. As koalas are a national icon of Australia, it is indeed a great honor for Ocean Park to be appointed as the trusted caregiver for the young animals. We will work closely with the South Australian Government and the HKSAR Government to ensure a smooth transition for the koalas and to welcome them to Hong Kong and the Ocean Park family.”
Dr Zeman continued, “We are delighted about this opportunity to collaborate with the South Australian Government. The arrival of the koalas will represent a new milestone towards our animal and environmental conservation efforts. We will strive to leverage on Ocean Park’s strong local connection and window to the world to tell the story of the koalas and their conservation messages to the local and international communities in vision of connecting people with nature.”
Ocean Park is in collaboration with the South Australian and the HKSAR Government. We will share more updates with the public and the media as these become available.
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