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Emily Hung

Despite the scorching heat, giant pandas Suhail and Thuraya have found a comfortable home in Qatar, thanks in part to the care of a Hongkonger who has brought her Ocean Park skills and experience to the Gulf country.
Cissy Kou Wing-sze became the curator at Qatar Panda House in 2022, where she now looks after the bears also known as Jing Jing and Si Hai, one of whom is a descendant of Ocean Park’s late panda Jia Jia.
“One day I wanted to look up the bloodline of Si Hai, and to my surprise, she is actually the great-granddaughter of Jia Jia, whom I cared for many years ago,” the 48-year-old said. “I teared up when I learned about it.”
She was speaking to the Post after meeting Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, who led a 50-member delegation of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese executives to Qatar and Kuwait last week to foster business connections.
Suhail and Thuraya – now six and five years old, equivalent to 18 and 15 human years respectively – were born in the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Sichuan province and gifted by China in October 2022 to commemorate the hosting of the Fifa World Cup.
They were the first pair of pandas in the Middle East.

The bears live in one of the world’s largest air-conditioned enclosures, located about 50km (31 miles) from the city centre of Doha. Temperatures are kept at between 14 and 24 degrees Celsius (57.2 and 75.2 Fahrenheit) depending on seasonal changes.
Their staple food, bamboo, is flown in from Sichuan weekly.
When a Post reporter visited on a Saturday afternoon, there were fewer than a dozen people viewing the giant pandas, who were taking a nap in their separate spaces.
“Si Hai is very sensitive and can be triggered by slight changes in the environment, but Jing Jing is happy as long as he gets food,” Kou told the Post.
Initially aspiring to work with dolphins, Kou started at Ocean Park as a bird trainer in 2005 and went on to care for pandas An An and Jia Jia, as well as the city’s second pair of bears, Ying Ying and Le Le.
She moved to Canada in 2015 and worked at the Calgary Zoo to care for a range of Canadian wildlife such as buffalo, reindeer and grizzly bears, in addition to a pair of giant pandas gifted by Beijing.

Those bears – Er Shun and Da Mao – were returned to China in 2020 due to a food supply crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Kou said that looking after pandas was not particularly difficult, but the “diplomatic” nature of the bears, as gifts and national treasures from China, meant there were always additional considerations.
“The well-being of the giant pandas abroad was often scrutinised by some overly enthusiastic fans at home, with some filing complaints or verbally attacking the zookeepers for so-called negligence … but it is also a chance for us to educate the public about giant pandas and explain their actual needs.”
She said Suhail and Thuraya received less attention in Qatar compared with the craze over the bears in other parts of the world.

“The way people see and treat animals is subject to the local culture,” she said.
“In the Middle East, it’s not uncommon for some wealthy families to keep exotic wild animals such as tigers and cheetahs, or even some endangered species, as pets in their mansions. Accidents happen from time to time, but it’s a symbol of status and power.”
Kou hoped to use her experience at Ocean Park to promote the message of animal conservation, starting with giant pandas.
“I wish to further enhance the standard of the facility and bring about positive changes in other local zoos through promotion and education,” she said.
“It’s not easy to change the deep-rooted traditional values, but I hope to nurture an awareness of conservation and sustainability in the younger generation by hosting more school tours in the future, and perhaps further discuss the local species such as oryxes, whale sharks and dugongs too.”


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Pandas in Qatar? Meet the Hongkonger helping Chinese national treasures thrive

Si Hai (pictured), also known as Thuraya, is a descendant of Ocean Park’s late panda Jia Jia. Photo: Xinhua

Cissy Kou became the curator at Qatar Panda House in 2022. Photo: Emily Hung

Temperatures in the enclosure are kept at between 14 and 24 degrees Celsius. Photo: Xinhua

Giant panda Jing Jing has a snack. The two bears in Qatar were the first in the Middle East. Photo: Xinhua 

Hong Kong’s John Lee starts Gulf visit, reveals host of deals to be signed

Chief Executive John Lee with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of State of Qatar. Photo: Handout

John Lee will also visit Lusail City during his trip. Photo: Emily Hung

John Lee with Qatar Investment Authority CEO Mohammed Saif Al-Sowaidi. Photo: ISD

The delegation includes Hong Kong business leaders and mainland entrepreneurs. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s panda cubs making first public appearance with mother Ying Ying

“Elder Sister” (right) enjoys lazing and napping on a fork of branches on a tree on February 16. Photo: May Tse

Hong Kong’s Ocean Park to consider extending panda cub enclosure opening hours

The public meets the city’s panda cubs for the first time. Photo: Sam Tsang

Panda fans sport suitable paraphernalia for the big day. Photo: Sam Tsang

Crowds gather to catch their first glimpse of the panda cubs. Photo: Sam Tsang

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Giant pandas Suhail and Thuraya live in one of world’s largest air-conditioned enclosures under care of former Ocean Park worker Cissy Kou


Giant pandas Suhail and Thuraya live in one of world’s largest air-conditioned enclosures under care of former Ocean Park worker Cissy Kou.


Pandas in Qatar? Meet the Hongkonger helping Chinese national treasures thrive

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Giant pandas Suhail and Thuraya live in one of world’s largest air-conditioned enclosures under care of former Ocean Park worker Cissy Kou

Giant pandas Suhail and Thuraya live in one of world’s largest air-conditioned enclosures under care of former Ocean Park worker Cissy Kou