Visit Singapore Zoo: More Gifts from China dies in Hong Kong

Monday, January 05, 2009

More Gifts from China dies in Hong Kong

One of Hong Kong's famed attractions, Ocean Park, is battling a public relations nightmare. Over the weekend, it announced that a rare sturgeon from mainland China had died in its care – the third reported death in six months.

Experts said the rare fish suffered from a head injury and blood clotting.

Ocean Park has been transitioning the sturgeons from freshwater to saltwater, and initial investigations showed that it was possible the fish might not have adapted well.

Just three weeks earlier, a sturgeon had died from an infection and yet another died in June after being bitten by a barracuda.

The fish were a gift from mainland China to mark the Olympics and their deaths are seen as a diplomatic embarrassment for Hong Kong. To make matters worse, two of the remaining seven sturgeons are sick.

The sturgeons are deemed as one of China's national treasures and are often referred to as "living fossils".

The popular sturgeon aquarium in Ocean Park has been closed indefinitely. The park has also been grappling with bad press from two other animal capers in which a panda and a sea lion had attacked staff members.

A video has been posted on YouTube showing the aftermath of a panda attack on a keeper in November. The panda, whose name ironically translates to 'peace', bit his female keeper in the leg and she had to be hospitalised.

A few weeks later, a sea lion also bit a trainer in the arm during a public feeding demonstration.

This latest string of animal mishaps has been a public relations disaster for Ocean Park.

Board members have called for an investigation into whether or not there are any management or operational problems behind the incidents. - AP

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