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Updated Saturday, December 6, 2008 9:29 am TWN, CNA

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Web site of Chinese pandas launched by Taipei City Zoo

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A Web site of Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, the pair of giant pandas that is expected to arrive in Taipei this month as a sign of warming ties between Taiwan and China, was launched by the Taipei City Zoo yesterday.

Taipei City Education Department Director Wu Ching-shan said at the Web site’s launching ceremony that the Taipei City Zoo has made all the necessary preparations to receive the pair of endangered animals, including setting up a Web site for them.

“We have video links on the Web site for people to watch precious documentaries about the everyday life of giant pandas in general,” said Wu. “We hope to enhance people’s understanding about these lovely creatures.”

The Web site address is: http://www.zoo.gov.tw/panda/english/index.htm

Photographs of the two animals can be seen on the Web site, which also includes an introduction on the concepts and methods of animal protection. Activities arranged by the Taipei City Zoo can also be found on the Web site.

Taipei City Zoo Director Jason Yeh joined Wu in the Web site launch, with both men each holding a panda doll in their hands.

Yeh added that the giant pandas, like other wildlife, are being endangered by humans.

“Their habitats are being destroyed or threatened with destruction,” said Yeh. “We hope to help people understand wildlife and so be able to take appropriate actions to protect them.”

Kao Koong-lian, vice chairman and secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation’s (SEF), said Thursday that the pair of giant pandas which China has promised to give to Taiwan is expected to be delivered to Taipei prior to Christmas Day.

It would take one month for the animals to undergo quarantine observation after arriving in Taiwan before they can be presented to zoo visitors, according to Kao.

Taiwan formally agreed to accept the pandas last month during a historic visit to Taipei by China’s top negotiator on Taiwan affairs, Chen Yunlin, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

Chen and his Taiwanese counterpart, SEF Chairman P.K. Chiang, agreed during the visit that the two sides present each other with rare indigenous species of animals and plants as tokens of friendship and amity.

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