Experts trying to choose a pair of pandas to send to Macau

After attending yesterday’s AL Standing Committee meeting, the Secretary for Administration and Justice, Sonia Chan, told the media that Hoi Hoi, the male panda living in the Seac Pai Van Park, may be returned to the mainland if experts decide Macau is not the ideal place for him. The president of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) executive committee, Alex Vong, also revealed that experts are considering whether or not the bureau needs to relocate the Asian bear Bobo from the Flora Garden due to an increased population in the area.
The Secretary said that experts have been trying to choose a pair of pandas to send to Macau, after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that the central government will be giving Macau another two pandas during his trip to the region in December. “Whether [Hoi Hoi] will stay or not, this has to wait until the new pair of pandas arrive before the experts can decide,” she said. “We do not rule out that [Hoi Hoi] will be sent back to the mainland].” Chan also stressed that the current panda pavilion in the Seac Pai Van Park is capable of accommodating three pandas and therefore no expansion is needed.
Meanwhile, IACM’s president Alex Vong said that his colleagues were also concerned with Bobo’s living conditions; the Asian bear has called Flora Garden home since the 1980s. He said that IACM officials are assessing the environment surrounding Flora Garden and will decide whether or not Bobo should be moved. Seac Pai Van Park is a possible option.
Furthermore, the president suggested that, given the increase in population near the Seac Pai Van Park, IACM is considering converting it from a country park to a city park.  A team is currently evaluating the situation. He said that IACM will reveal more information on this matter when it becomes available. JPL