Two Giant Rubber Ducks Debut in Hong Kong in Bid to Drive Double Happiness’ 

A woman poses for a photo as an art installation, dubbed "Double Ducks" by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is seen in the background at Victoria Harbor, in Hong Kong, China June 9, 2023. (Reuters)
A woman poses for a photo as an art installation, dubbed "Double Ducks" by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is seen in the background at Victoria Harbor, in Hong Kong, China June 9, 2023. (Reuters)
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Two Giant Rubber Ducks Debut in Hong Kong in Bid to Drive Double Happiness’ 

A woman poses for a photo as an art installation, dubbed "Double Ducks" by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is seen in the background at Victoria Harbor, in Hong Kong, China June 9, 2023. (Reuters)
A woman poses for a photo as an art installation, dubbed "Double Ducks" by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, is seen in the background at Victoria Harbor, in Hong Kong, China June 9, 2023. (Reuters)

A pair of Rubber Ducks made a splash in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor on Friday, part of an art installation dubbed "Double Ducks" by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, who says he hopes the ducks will bring happiness to the city.

The inflatable yellow ducks, 18 meters (59 feet) high, will sail on the harbor for two weeks and come a decade after Hofman's "Rubber Duck" sculpture drew crowds in the Asian financial hub in 2013.

Hofman said his pair of ducks represent "twice the fun, double the happiness" and bring new excitement to Hong Kong.

"I hope it will bring as much pleasure as it did in the past and in a world where we suffered from a pandemic, wars and political situation, I think it's the right moment to bring back the double luck."

Curator AllRightsReserved (ARR) said the ducks were like the symmetrical Chinese characters "xi" for happiness and "peng" for friends.

Hofman, who was inspired by a world map and rubber duck to create his giant inflatable rubber duck installation, began a world tour starting from the Netherlands in 2007, making stops in harbors from France to Brazil.

Stationed near Hong Kong's central district and Tamar Park, the ducks swam across Victoria Harbor to the delight of dozens of bystanders.

Anna, a 40-year old woman, who was walking the promenade said she enjoyed seeing the ducks.

"We would like more installation art like the rubber ducks in Hong Kong. Right now there isn't much space for art in Hong Kong if we compare it to Macau or Shenzhen, they have more art installations."

A 40-year-old engineer named Kane said the ducks were positive for Hong Kong. "It's a silver lining when the society is in such low spirits. It's better for the government to spend public money on this than on other areas."



Rare Pudu Birth in Argentina Sparks Conservation Hopes for Tiny Enigmatic Deer

 A rare pudu fawn named Lenga, born earlier this month, is seen at the Temaiken Foundation, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 22, 2024. (Reuters)
A rare pudu fawn named Lenga, born earlier this month, is seen at the Temaiken Foundation, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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Rare Pudu Birth in Argentina Sparks Conservation Hopes for Tiny Enigmatic Deer

 A rare pudu fawn named Lenga, born earlier this month, is seen at the Temaiken Foundation, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 22, 2024. (Reuters)
A rare pudu fawn named Lenga, born earlier this month, is seen at the Temaiken Foundation, in Buenos Aires, Argentina November 22, 2024. (Reuters)

A rare pudu fawn was born in a biopark in Argentina earlier this month, giving scientists and conservationists a unique chance to study and collect data on the tiny enigmatic deer.

Weighing just 1.21 kg (2.7 lbs), the delicate, fragile and white-spotted male pudu fawn was named Lenga after a tree species endemic to the Andean Patagonian forest of Chile and Argentina.

"It's a very enigmatic animal, it's not easy to see," said Maximiliano Krause, Lenga's caretaker at the Temaiken Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to conserving wild species.

Pudus are one of the smallest deer species in the world, growing up to 50-cm (20-inches) tall and weighing up to 12 kg (26.5 lbs).

At just a fraction of that weight, Krause says Lenga is spending his days exploring the park with his mother Chalten and father Nicolino. Lenga is breastfeeding for the first two months until he can handle a herbivorous diet.

After that, Lenga will lose his white spots that help fawns camouflage themselves in their environment. Krause says the mottled color helps the tiny baby deer hide from both daytime and nighttime predators. At about one year, pudus develop antlers and reach up to 10 cm (4 inches).

Pudus are very elusive animals and flee in zig-zags when chased by predators. The tiny deer also face threats from wild dogs and species introduced into southern Argentina and Chile. Only about 10,000 pudus remain and are classified as near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

"This pudu birth is obviously a joy for us," said Cristian Guillet, director of zoological operations at the Temaiken Foundation.

Guillet said that Lenga will help them research and gather data that will help conservation efforts for pudus and other Patagonian deer, like the huemul.

"(This) offers hope of saving them from extinction," Guillet said.