Rare sturgeon on their way to Hong Kong park

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-7-15  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

THE Hong Kong Ocean Park is to get another five rare Chinese sturgeon from a Chinese mainland conservation center and said yesterday that the total of nine Chinese sturgeon in the park will soon have a dedicated facility.

Allan Zeman, chairman of the theme park, said the Ocean Park had signed an agreement with mainland conservation authorities on the donation of the Chinese sturgeon, which will arrive in Hong Kong by the end of July via land transport from Xiamen, Fujian Province.

"We are very grateful for the support and trust we have received from the National Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Association. We will have a total of nine Chinese sturgeon as the park's aquatic conservation ambassadors," he said.

The Ocean Park received five Chinese sturgeon from the mainland in June as a gift from the National Aquatic Wildlife Conservation Association to represent the five Olympic rings. It was the first time the sturgeon has been sent outside the mainland.

But one later died. An attack by a barracuda was suspected. It shared the same facility with the Chinese sturgeon in the Ocean Park.

Zeman said the park planned to show the second batch of five Chinese sturgeon to the public from August 8 in a dedicated facility converted from the existing aquarium for sharks. Other species will be accommodated in the aquarium later.

Each of the five Chinese sturgeon is two meters in length, and belongs to the first generation of freshwater Chinese sturgeon bred by the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences.

The Ocean Park said it has arranged site visits for experts from the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences and the Beijing Aquarium to provide technical advice.