Hongkongers on Tuesday were told to wait until the end of this year to meet the giant pandas that were gifted to the city by the central authorities, as the pair are still under quarantine on the mainland. Ahead of the weekly Executive Council meeting, Chief Executive John Lee said the target was to arrange for the two adult pandas, aged between five and eight, to come to Hong Kong by the end of this month to go through another round of quarantine. “We have in principle reached an agreement with the mainland authorities. We need to iron out the details, say for example, when the pandas will set off for Hong Kong. They are now under quarantine. If everything goes smoothly, we will arrange for them to come to Hong Kong as soon as possible. The target is for them to arrive at the end of the month,” he said. Lee said as much as he wants the pandas to meet the public as soon as possible, it all comes down to their condition and how well they adjust to a new living environment. As for the twin pandas born in Ocean Park last month, Lee said the cubs were getting healthier and acting “more like pandas”, adding he hoped the public would be able to meet the cubs in the first quarter of next year. On its Facebook page, Ocean Park said the cubs were getting stronger every day and would be ready to do away with the incubators in about two weeks.
