Animals at Taipei Zoo have been receiving specialized health examinations and meals since the facility closed on Wednesday last week for 10 days, zoo staff said.
Veterinarians have been performing health examinations, such as auscultation, and palpation, radiography, ultrasonography, computed tomography scan and clinical pathology tests, they said.
The zoo said it started performing regular health checks on all animals more than a decade ago.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo
Previously the zoo was closed to the public only during Lunar New Year’s Eve, and exhibitions were closed in turns on Mondays for health checks and facility maintenance.
After examining the management of zoos in other countries, Taipei Zoo proposed closing for an extra period every year to conduct facility maintenance and allow the animals to rest and undergo health examinationa.
The proposal last year garnered 98 percent public support on the city’s i-Voting Platform and the policy was implemented this year.
Staff prepared customized meals for some of the animals, including Formosan wild boars, Formosan clouded leopards, mountain lions, Mongolian wild horses, gibbons and gray kangaroos, before they underwent health checks, it said.
Carnivores chew on bones and have high-protein diets, so many have teeth and kidney problems; primates like eating sweets, so they often have cavities or diabetes; many social animals frequently fight and sustain physical injuries; and some temperate-zone or desert animals have skin or fur problems due the hot and humid climate in Taiwan, the zoo said.
The zoo is to reopen on Saturday.
Visitors can purchase tickets with cash or Visa credit cards or buy tickets online via the city’s electronic payment system, pay.taipei, the zoo said.
They can also use EasyCard iPass, HappyCash or icash2.0 payment cards to enter the zoo without a ticket.
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