Greens slam Hong Kong theme park for importing endangered species

Jan 26, 2011, 11:56 GMT

Hong Kong - An environmental group Wednesday staged a protest at Hong Kong's most popular theme park over a new multi-million-US-dollar aquarium which they say is importing endangered species.

Members of Green Sense called for better protection of endangered sea life by Ocean Park, which is to open a new three-storey aquarium attraction called Aqua City at the end of January.

The attraction is part of a major expansion of the theme park and claims to have 5,000 fish from around 400 species. Ocean Park attracts more than 5 million visitors a year, more than the city's Disney theme park.

Green Sense project officer Hys Sun said the imported species in the new aquarium included critically endangered bluefin tuna.

'Some of these animals have already died, once again raising concerns about the education and conservation role Ocean Park is currently playing,' Sun said.

Ocean Park was widely criticized by environmentalists in 2010 for funding a study into bottle nose dolphins in the Solomon Islands with a view to importing captured wild dolphins for the theme park.

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