One of three red pandas obtained from China’s Fujian Province made its public debut at the Taipei Zoo yesterday.
Children thronging in front of the animal’s enclosure were elated to see Huan Huan (歡歡), peeping out from behind a bush.
“There he is, how lovely he is,” they shouted in excitement.
Photo: CNA, provided by Taipei Zoo
Huan Huan, the only male of the trio, adapted to the new environment more quickly than the others, so he was the first to meet the public, the zoo said.
Huan Huan, weighing in at 4.7kg, is getting along well with his keeper, the zoo said, adding that his diet consists of bamboo, carrot, steamed cornbread and apple.
The animal appeared to be curious about his new environment and explored every corner of his enclosure.
He was also seen to be marking his territory.
Because red pandas dislike the heat and cannot tolerate excessively cold weather, the zoo sprinkles mist in the enclosure to maintain an ideal temperature and also has air conditioning for the animal’s indoor areas.
The three red pandas arrived on June 6, but had been quarantined after their arrival.
They were bred by a research center in Fujian and given to the Taipei Zoo to promote breeding cooperation and help Taiwanese to understand the efforts made by China in wildlife protection.
The Taipei Zoo has been trying to breed red pandas for the past 20-odd years, but the attempts have never succeeded.
Red pandas, or Ailurus fulgens, are similar in shape to raccoons and have mostly dark-brown fur.
They spend most of the day sleeping in trees, becoming more active in the late afternoon and early evening.
The red panda is a second-class protected animal in China. It is endemic to southern China and the temperate forests of Nepal, Bhutan, India, Laos and Myanmar.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
RSS