A frenzy of excitement gripped Hong Kong's Ocean Park on Thursday as tourists looked forward to catching a glimpse of the park's newest members -- a set of newborn panda twins.
China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) announced the birth of the panda twins early Thursday morning.
The pair, a female and a male, were cubs of Ying Ying and Le Le, pandas given as a gift by the central government to Hong Kong in 2007.
Visitors at Ocean Park were thrilled to hear about the news of this birth, with many hoping to see the park's adorable new residents.
"It's always amazing to see the birth of new pandas, right? We've been here before. We saw the older pandas before. We really enjoyed that, right? And we are looking forward to seeing the new pandas to be available for the tourists very soon," said an Indian tourist.
At the age of 19, Ying Ying is the oldest giant panda on record to give birth for the first time.
"I think Ying Ying is a very lucky panda to be able to be here in Hong Kong and be in such a wonderful environment. Not to mention it's a pigeon pair! She is so lucky. I'm really happy for her," said a visitor from the Chinese mainland.
The park's head of Zoological Operations and Conservation, Howard Chuk, said Ying Ying went through a relatively stressful delivery, so one of their focuses is to ensure her speedy recovery.
Meanwhile, both cubs are under round the clock intensive care, and visitors will have to wait for a couple of months before seeing them.
"It's super exciting to hear that the panda has given birth to babies. But at the same time a little disappointed that we can't see the pandas. We came all the way from India to look at the pandas and we can't see," said another Indian tourist.
Tourists thrilled as Hong Kong Ocean Park welcomes newborn panda twins
Emergency and medical crews have been working to improve sanitation conditions in south China's Hainan in the aftermath of the destructive Super Typhoon Yagi which ripped through the island province.
Yagi, the 11th typhoon of the year, made landfall twice on Friday, first striking Hainan Province and later the neighboring Guangdong Province.
Hainan faced the full force of the typhoon, with four people being killed and 95 injured.
After being pounded with heavy rain and gusty winds, Hainan is now suffering water shortages and the threat contamination in the aftermath of the deadly disaster. In response, the Danzhou Center of Disease Control and Prevention quickly launched a series of disinfection operations to ensure the safety of local residents.
"When we came here, we found that the well water in this village is surface water and is easily contaminated by poultry-like feces or leaves and grass on the ground. These things flowed into the wells with the rain. So, we need to disinfect water wells to ensure residents' water safety," said Lin Haixing, a staff member from the Danzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Authorities in Hainan's Wenchang City have also been carrying out strict disinfection work in key areas such in sewers, garbage collection points, and at resettlement sites and college campuses, as they look to prevent the spread of disease in the wake of the typhoon.
"The disease control and prevention department issues a reminder that special attention should be paid in regards to drinking water and the overall environmental sanitation after the typhoon. [Residents should] drink boiled water instead of untreated water. Utensils must be disinfected and cleaned before being filled with water. Do not dump domestic garbage and other waste around water sources," said Mei Zhenkun, a staff member from the Wenchang Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Follow-up work ongoing to address sanitation conditions in typhoon-hit Hainan
