Hotel Plazza

Monday, March 23, 2009

Adapted from The Standard 
 
Four red pandas, Chinese giant salamanders and the young pair of breeding pandas Le Le and Ying Ying will form part of Ocean Park's newest attraction, which is set to open this month.
Amazing Asian Animals, a 25,000-square meter area dedicated to Asian species, is one of two key projects forming part of the park's HK$ 5.55 billion expansion plan.

It claims to be the world's only zoological park in which wildlife from the sky, land and sea co-exist.

It will feature the city's first translucent building, built with ethylene tetrafluoroethylene, the same chemical used for the exterior of Beijing's "Water Cube" aquatics center.

The see-through building will be the facility's flagship Giant Panda Adventure Centre.

The new park within a park will also feature Chinese alligators, Asian small-clawed otters, more than 60 rare and protected birds, and various Asia turtles.

Ocean Park chairman Allan Zeman said the financial crisis has not dented visitor numbers. "On the contrary, the number of visitors in January broke the park's record since its opening in 1977," he said.

The number of visitors to the park in January and February increased by 5 to 8 percent over the same months last year, he said.

The rare sturgeons sent to Xiamen for treatment may return to the park in summer, Zeman said.

Deputy chief executive Matthias Li said the park will not review its entrance fees at this stage despite the opening of new attractions.

The Ocean Express, described as the world's first themed 1,300m funicular system and designed to complement the current cable car system, is expected to open in the third quarter of this year. The park will launch new attractions over eight phases between now and 2012/13, when the number of attractions will rise from the current 35 to over 70. STAFF REPORTER

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