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.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS