The arrival of the giant pandas has triggered debate on the legitimacy of exchanging endangered species between countries, but the director of the Taipei City Zoo said international exchanges were necessary to sustain the existence of endangered species.
To preserve a diversity of life forms, efforts must be made to educate the public when a species is on the brink of extinction and inspire people to protect and take care of species that share the planet with human beings, Jason Yeh (葉傑生) said.
Yeh said that in the field of biological conservation, so-called “flagship species” such as the giant panda not only help generate long-term benefits for the endangered species itself, but also raise public awareness of the need to protect all animals facing extinction.
By guiding people to love and care for pandas, people may begin caring for other species and pay attention to the deterioration of the animals’ natural habitats, which are being destroyed by human activity, he said.
“This is the most important task” of the zoo’s animal display, Yeh said.
Since China announced in 2005 it would offer a pair of giant pandas to Taiwan as a gift of good will and friendship, the Taipei City Zoo has been planning and building a modern panda house that it hopes will reflect the zoo’s role in biological and ecological conservation and educating the public.
Yeh said that since 2005, the zoo had sent 17 veterinarians and animal keepers to Beijing, Xian, Shanghai and Hong Kong as well as San Diego and Washington in the US, and Chiang Mai in Thailand to see how other facilities had managed pandas.
Yeh said that introducing pandas into Taiwan was not to create a circus show for commercial gain.
“All the efforts the zoo has made over the past several years to acquire knowledge in caring and breeding for the animals reflect its devotion to wildlife preservation,” he said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS