Taipei Zoo is expected to welcome the one-millionth visitor to its Panda Hall this weekend with the number of visitors to the hall reaching a new high.
The Panda Hall has become the biggest attraction at the zoo since the two giant pandas, Tuan Tuan (團團) and Yuan Yuan (圓圓), made their first appearance in January.
Taipei Zoo director Jason Yeh (葉傑生) said the number of visitors to the hall is expected to reach 1 million this weekend, and the zoo will present special gifts to the one millionth visitor.
PHOTO: CNA
Yeh said that the gifts included environment-friendly products with panda logos on them, such as chopsticks and mugs, to promote the importance of environmental protection and conservation to the visitor and the public.
The zoo will also organize activities to celebrate the record number of visitors to the hall on the day the one-millionth visitor shows up, he added.
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan arrived at the zoo in December and made their first appearance on Jan. 26 after a one-month quarantine.
Yeh said the number of visitors to the hall reached 500,000 on Feb. 28, with the number continuing to grow fast.
In related news, the zoo yesterday celebrated the arrival of a four-month old Formosan black bear after the zoo successfully bred the animal under a conservation program in cooperation with the Pingtung County Government.
Yeh visited Pingtung yesterday to pick up the bear and bring it to the zoo. Local resident Lee Teng-cheng (李藤正), who has raised a pair of Formosan black bears for 20 years, cooperated with the zoo in the conservation program and helped breed the cub.
The zoo currently has 10 Formosan black bears and plans to continue its efforts to breed more bears.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
RSS