Ocean Park Hong Kong, commonly known simply as Ocean Park, is an animal theme park in Hong Kong. Covering an area of 91.5 hectares (226 acres) in Wong Chuk Hang, it is the largest theme park by area in Hong Kong, and is also the city's second-oldest theme park, after the now-defunct Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park. Opened on 10 January 1977, Ocean Park was initially popular but by 2005 had become unprofitable and was widely expected to close due to the opening of Hong Kong Disneyland. The park responded with a HK$5.5 billion development plan that eventually expanded it to over 80 rides and attractions. Visitor count steadily grew to 7.6 million in 2014. From this redevelopment, it became the world's 13th-most visited theme park and one of the largest theme parks in Asia. The park is built on either side of a large mountain, separating it into two areas, the Waterfront and the Summit, which are connected by a cable car system and a funicular. The Summit, which consists of several hills, has an outdoor escalator that was previously the world's longest. The theme park has various attractions and rides, including four roller coasters, and also live animal exhibits with different themes, such as a giant panda habitat, rainforest, and polar displays, as well as an aquarium featuring the world's largest aquarium dome. Between 1979 and 1997, Ocean Park was most famous for its signature orca, Hoi Wai. The park has housed giant pandas since 1999 and was previously home to the world's oldest male and female giant pandas. As well as being an amusement park, Ocean Park Hong Kong aims to merge entertainment and education, including conservation advocacy. However, it has been criticised by wildlife advocates for practices including the capture of wild marine animals such as dolphins and orcas and the presentation of shows featuring such animals performing. Ocean Park is also known for holding the Halloween Bash, the largest Halloween event in Asia.
History and development
Planning and opening
Conception Ocean Park was originally conceived as a marine life centre. The idea was first proposed on 3 March 1959 by J. D. Bromhall, chief scientific officer of the Fisheries Research Unit at the University of Hong Kong, who revealed a plan to develop in the city a super aquarium, called an "oceanarium". Bromhall explained the plan by referencing one of the world's two oceanariums at the time – the Marine Studios in Florida, which he described as a type of aquarium where "the species of fish are not separated" and "the conditions are as near as possible [to] those at the bottom of the sea". In August 1967, the British Hong Kong government offered to provide a free land grant for the project. The site was located at Brick Hill in Aberdeen and occupied 69 hectares (170 acres). The grant cost about HK$4.28 million. In May 1971, it was announced that the oceanarium would come under the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which provided HK$150 million in funding.
Cetacean curation During the oceanarium's planning stage in 1970–1971, it hired Kenneth S. Norris as lead consultant. At the time, Norris had previously served as curator for Marineland of the Pacific, and contributed to the conception of SeaWorld and Sea Life Park. He in turn hired Douglas "Ted" Hammond as a veterinarian, who would remain with Ocean Park for the next 15 years and become its curator. In efforts to collect dolphins for the oceanarium, Hammond and his team established satellite bases in the Philippines, Japan, and the Penghu Islands near western Taiwan. In the Philippines from 1974 to 1975, the team attempted to capture spinners, Fraser's dolphins, and melon-headed whales in Cebu, but were ultimately unsuccessful as these sensitive pelagic species could not adapt to captivity. All of the captured individuals were eventually released back into the wild or died before they could be transported to Hong Kong. Hammond and his team were more successful in Japan and the Penghu Islands, where they chose to procure dolphins from fishermen who engaged in dolphin drive hunting. Species collected as a result included the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, the Pacific bottlenose dolphin, the false killer whale, the pacific white-sided dolphin, and the short-finned pilot whale. This practice was used by the team from late 1974 to 1987. During this period, more than 90% of all cetaceans housed in Ocean Park were obtained in this way. Hammond's choice to obtain animals from drive fisheries ended up having a long-lasting impact in the industry. From 1978 to 1993, dolphin brokers and other zoological institutions followed his example and procured dolphins from the same drive fisheries. In some cases, Ocean Park also served as a temporary housing facility for drive-sourced animals being transported elsewhere, including the Knowsley Safari Park, the Ancol Dreamland, and the United States Navy.
Opening Following five years of construction, Ocean Park officially opened on 10 January 1977, with Sir Murray MacLehose, Governor of Hong Kong, conducting the opening ceremony. The park's opening was delayed multiple times due to bad weather, landslides, fire, and testing of the cable cars. Also to blame were two disease outbreaks among the park's marine mammals, which killed 38 dolphins, 4 whales, and 5 harbour seals by the time the park opened (see § Marine mammal deaths). The park's admission fees were also criticised by community leaders; resultingly, MacLehose's inauguration speech was downbeat, with him saying that "[i]t is my hope that in the course of time... the headland will gradually be developed to provide room for its enjoyment by larger numbers who may not always wish or be able to pay to see all the exhibits at one time."
20th century
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
