Tuan Tuan (團團), an 18-year-old male panda at the Taipei Zoo, died at 1:48pm yesterday, the zoo said.
Tuan Tuan experienced three seizures at 1:05am, 1:56am and 3:54am yesterday.
The zoo’s medical team administered an anticonvulsant drug, but the panda continued to have seizures until 7:03am, when the veterinarians injected it with stronger anticonvulsant and sedative drugs, the Taipei Zoo said yesterday.
Photo: Taipei Zoo via AP
Tuan Tuan had been moved into palliative care last month for a deteriorating health condition, after he suffered three seizures in late August. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan on Sept. 18 showed that he had a brain lesion.
Tuan Tuan regained consciousness for a while yesterday morning, but was weak and could only lie on the floor resting, unable to eat, zoo spokesman Eric Tsao (曹先紹) said.
The zoo’s medical team deemed his condition irreversible after conducting a physical examination and viewing a computerized tomography (CT) scan result. Given that Tuan Tuan would not be able to live without struggle or have a good quality of life, the medical team used a high dose of anesthetic to euthanize the animal, Tsao said.
An autopsy is to be conducted for research purposes, and the zoo would preserve his fur and bones, while the possibility of cell preservation is being investigated, he said.
The zoo plans to hold an event to celebrate Tuan Tuan’s life, with details to be announced later, he added.
Tuan Tuan is one of two giant pandas — along with a female, Yuan Yuan (圓圓) — gifted by China in 2008 when the animals were four years old, to mark increasingly close relations with Taiwan under the administration of then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九).
Tuan Tuan was a source of joy for Taiwanese young and old, and a facilitator of exchanges between Taiwan and China, the Mainland Affairs Council said, adding the council feels a deep reluctance to part with the panda.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) said her agency expresses its sorrow and thanked the Chinese experts and Taipei Zoo staff for their efforts to save the panda.
The gifting of Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan to Taiwan 14 years ago was a symbol for the development of peaceful relations across the Strait, and an outpouring of grief from both sides show a way to mutual understanding, she said.
Ma’s office yesterday issued a statement to express condolences, in which it also thanked Tuan Tuan for arriving in Taiwan 14 years ago, entertaining people of different ages, and becoming a cherished memory for many Taiwanese.
The statement said that hopefully there can be more living embodiments of peace like Tuan Tuan in the future, contributing to friendly exchanges between Taiwan and China.
The government of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) should advocate for similar non-governmental exchanges, it added.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said the news was regrettable to hear, while Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said Tuan Tuan was a star of the Taipei Zoo and part of Taiwan’s collective memory, making the news very sad.
Independent Taipei mayoral candidate Vivian Huang (黃珊珊), who is former Taipei deputy mayor, said it was a difficult decision for the zoo’s medical team to let Tuan Tuan go, as he had become a wonderful memory for many people.
Although he was not born in Taiwan, Taipei residents recognized him as a “new Taiwanese panda,” she added.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang and CNA
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
RSS