Taipei Zoo said it is mulling closing the park for 12 days per year for renovations and is inviting the public to vote on the possible measure using the city’s i-Voting Web site.
The zoo welcomes 3 million visitors per year and only closes on Lunar New Year’s Eve, zoo officials said on Saturday, adding that closing the park from June 19 to June 30 each year would allow it to improve facilities.
People can vote online from 9am on Feb. 13 to 5pm on March 12, the zoo added.
The zoo uses a rotation system to close different exhibits every Monday for maintenance work, zoo spokesman Eric Tsao (曹先紹) said.
The need to stagger work on different enclosures and facilities extends maintenance time, which increases costs and prolongs disturbances to animals, Tsao said.
The idea of closing the park for a specified period every year was proposed after looking at the operations of zoos in other countries, he said, citing Japan’s popular Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido, which closes for three weeks every year at the end of winter.
“Zoo workers would still need to be at the park every day while it is closed to the public to take care of the animals. We could allow special groups to visit the park at these times,” Tsao said, adding that the time could also be used to repair publicly accessible areas and for holding conferences.
The zoo hopes that by seeking public opinion it can reduce the effects on visitors, Tsao said.
It is the first survey submitted through the i-Voting Web site that the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission has promoted public participation on, he said.
People can vote online at https://ivoting.taipei/提案資料內容/59-survey-intro, Tsao said, adding that they can also submit their votes at the zoo in person.
The zoo can be reached by telephone on (02) 2938-2300, ext 630.
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS