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.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS