Taipei Zoo is hoping that a female Malayan tapir that arrived on loan from Singapore Zoo will mate with its male tapir, contributing to the endangered species’ survival, it said on Monday.
The eight-and-a-half-year-old female tapir, called Putri, arrived in Taipei on Wednesday last week on hopes that she would mate with seven-and-a-half-year-old Mosu (貘樹), Taipei Zoo said.
Putri would be taken to the zoo’s Conservation and Research Center once she completes 30 days of quarantine, it said.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo via CNA
Once she gets accustomed to her new surroundings and keepers, she would be introduced to Mosu, it added.
The veterinarian who has monitored the female tapir since its arrival in Taiwan said Putri is docile and approachable, and has been acting friendly toward the keepers from the first time they met.
The loan was made under the European Endangered Species Programme, which was launched in 1985 to issue zoos with mandatory breeding recommendations to keep genetic diversity as high as possible and avoid inbreeding.
The Malayan tapir, also called the Asian tapir and Asiatic tapir and the only one endemic to Asia, Africa and Europe, is the largest of the four widely recognized species of tapir.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face