Connie, a Formosan pangolin born to parents gifted from Taiwan, celebrated her first birthday on Thursday at Prague Zoo in the Czech Republic.
Born in July last year, Connie is the second Formosan pangolin cub born at the zoo, following her sister Siska (known as Pine Cone), who arrived in February 2023. Both were born to a pair of pangolins sent from Taipei Zoo in 2022.
Prague Zoo spokesperson Filip Masek confirmed that both pangolins are “healthy and well.” While Siska has fully matured, Connie is still about a year away from maturity. She currently weighs 2.6kg, compared with the typical 5kg of a fully grown female.
Photo courtesy of Prague Zoo via CNA
The two pangolins have transitioned to eating bee larvae pulp, a “secret recipe” developed by Taipei Zoo for mature pangolins, Masek said, adding that it takes zoo staff an hour each day to prepare the specialized feed.
Describing the species as “delicate,” Masek said that sophisticated climate control systems have been installed to maintain the right temperature and humidity levels due to their sensitivity.
Since pangolins have poor vision, they might mistake people for trees and attempt to climb them, he said. While this behavior is “cute,” it can be dangerous, as pangolins are vulnerable to human diseases.
“We need to be extremely careful,” he said.
Regarding the future of the zoo’s pangolins, Masek said that due to the absence of a male for Siska to mate with, they might transfer her to Vienna Zoo, where plans are under way to construct a dedicated “pangolin house.”
Masek said that pangolins are unique as the only mammals with scales, with eight species found across Asia and Africa. However, all pangolin species are currently listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to poaching for their meat and scales.
The belief in the “unique healing effects” of pangolin scales is unscientific, as they are made of keratin, the same substance found in human nails, he said.
Despite the lack of evidence for their supposed medicinal properties, this mistaken belief has put pangolins under tremendous threat from poachers seeking their scales due, he added.
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
Aftershocks from a magnitude 6.2 earthquake that struck off Yilan County at 3:45pm yesterday could reach a magnitude of 5 to 5.5, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Seismological Center technical officer Chiu Chun-ta (邱俊達) told a news conference that the epicenter of the temblor was more than 100km from Taiwan. Although predicted to measure between magnitude 5 and 5.5, the aftershocks would reach an intensity of 1 on Taiwan’s 7-tier scale, which gauges the actual effect of an earthquake, he said. The earthquake lasted longer in Taipei because the city is in a basin, he said. The quake’s epicenter was about 128.9km east-southeast
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
STAY VIGILANT: People should reduce the risk of chronic liver inflammation by avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and eating pickled foods, the physician said A doctor last week urged people to look for five key warning signs of acute liver failure after popular producer-turned-entertainer Shen Yu-lin (沈玉琳) was reportedly admitted to an intensive care unit for fulminant hepatitis. Fulminant hepatitis is the rapid and massive death of liver cells, impairing the organ’s detoxification, metabolic, protein synthesis and bile production functions, which if left untreated has a mortality rate as high as 80 percent, according to the Web site of Advancing Clinical Treatment of Liver Disease, an international organization focused on liver disease prevention and treatment. People with hepatitis B or C are at higher risk of
RSS