A four-year-old male red panda from the Hamamatsu Zoological Gardens in Japan has arrived in Taiwan, Taipei Zoo said on Friday.
The red panda, which has been named Wei Lai (未來), is undergoing a one-month quarantine after arriving on Thursday evening, Taipei Zoo said in a statement.
Taipei Zoo director Chen I-tsung (諶亦聰) said that it has previously imported three red pandas, one male and two females, from China in 2014.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Zoo
Since then, Taipei Zoo has bred nine additional red pandas, Chen added.
However, as all red pandas suitable for breeding are offspring of the animals from China, an animal from another family is needed to ensure genetic health and diversity, Chen said.
With assistance from the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Taipei Zoo personnel visited Japan in June to discuss an animal exchange, the statement said.
Wei Lai was chosen in July based on factors including his age and his inbreeding coefficient, it said.
Visitors to the zoo would be able to see Wei Lai in April at the earliest, it said.
Chen said Taipei Zoo had more than 20 years of experience caring for red pandas, adding that two of the zoo’s red pandas are older than 19 years old.
This is considered old for red pandas, which typically live to about 10 to 12 years old in captivity, zoologists at Taipei Zoo said.
The red panda has been listed as “endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, the zoo said.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
RSS