■ Conservation
Taiwan donates US$50,000
Taiwan donated US$50,000 to a UK-based international bird life conservation alliance in London on Wednesday to help sponsor an Asian forest conservation program. Taiwan’s representative to the UK Katharine Chang (張小月) presented a check for US$50,000 to Richard Grimmett, head of the conservation division of BirdLife International, an alliance of organizations striving to protect birds and global biodiversity, at the Taiwan representative office in the UK. Chang also signed a memorandum of understanding with Grimmett, under which Taiwan will donate a total of US$100,000 over two years to help with the conservation project. Chang said at the ceremony that Taiwan hoped its donation would contribute substantially to international ecology conservation efforts. Grimmett told the CNA that Taiwan’s achievement in bird conservation has won international recognition. He also expressed gratitude for Taiwan’s donation, which he said is important to the alliance’s forest conservation work.
■ PANDAS
Zoo Web site crashes
A Web site set up by the Taipei Zoo for the two pandas from China crashed as too many people tried to catch a glimpse of the two animals, zoo officials said yesterday. “On Wednesday, the number of clicks on the Panda Web site surged from 17,000 on Tuesday to 37,000, causing the Web site to crash. We have asked the Taipei City Government to repair it and to enlarge the servers’ capability,” zoo spokesman Jason Chin (金仕謙) said. The two four-year-old pandas, named Tuan Tuan (團團) and Yuan Yuan (圓圓), arrived in Taipei in a chartered jet on Tuesday afternoon. They are adapting to conditions at their new home extremely well, Chin said.
Staff writer, with agencies
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