Panda personalities: adventurous An An, cautious Ke Ke adjust to Hong Kong at own pace

The personalities of two pandas gifted by Beijing to Hong Kong are determining how quickly they are adapting to their new home, Ocean Park has said, with the more adventurous one living in a den and the “feisty little princess” remaining in her cage.

Howard Chuk Hau-chung, head of zoological operations and conservation at the park, said on Thursday adult bears An An and Ke Ke were adjusting well to their new surroundings after arriving from the mainland Chinese city of Chengdu last Thursday.

“An An is quarantining in a den while Ke Ke is inside a training cage,” he said.

“They have different personalities so we’ll use different measures.”

He said male An An was more adventurous and open to new things, while female Ke Ke was more reserved and nervous.

“Ke Ke needs more time to adapt and being in a cage allows our caretakers to be close to her to touch her, feed her and help her calm down,” he said.