A Malayan tapir, named Budak Puntja in Czech or Moko (貘克) in Chinese, on Tuesday died from undetermined causes at Taipei Zoo after falling ill and running a high temperature since the weekend, the zoo said in a statement on Wednesday.
The zoo said the animal was found lying next to a pool in its enclosure on Tuesday morning, but was unable to stand. A veterinarian then administered a blood test, provided a nutritional supplement and other medical treatment throughout the day, but Budak Puntja was found unresponsive at 3:30pm.
The ensuing efforts to revive the Malayan tapir proved ineffective, the zoo said, adding that an autopsy was to be performed yesterday to determine the cause of death.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo
The seven-year-old Malayan tapir first showed signs of fatigue on Saturday, but seemingly recovered after eating and bathing in the enclosure pool, the zoo said.
The zoo had let the animal rest since Sunday, when it failed to finish its evening meal and suffered from diarrhea.
A veterinarian on Monday discovered the tapir was running a fever. At that point, a first blood test was administered, and the animal was injected with antibiotics and provided with a nutritional supplement.
In addition, an industrial fan was installed in the enclosure and blocks of ice placed on the ground, in an effort to lower the temperature, the zoo said.
Taipei Zoo spokesperson Tsao Hsien-shao (曹先紹) on Wednesday told reporters that the tapir’s condition deteriorated rapidly, so further work was needed to determine the cause of death.
Budak Puntja was born in Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic on Oct. 15, 2015, and arrived in Taiwan on March 15, 2018, as part of a cross-institute breeding program.
The Malayan tapir was paired with two female Malayan tapirs, Mofang (貘芳) and Moli (貘莉), at Taipei Zoo in February 2019 and two cubs were born in 2020 and 2021, who were later named Motou (貘豆) and Mohuatou (貘花豆).
The zoo said Budak Puntja and his offspring have successfully raised public awareness of the endangered herbivore species from Southeast Asia.
A memorial gathering is to be held for Budak Puntja in the coming days, the zoo added.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
RSS