TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan’s capital city zoo has taken in two endangered red pandas from China on Saturday, marking the first animal transfer between the regions in more than ten years amid ongoing political tensions.
The new arrivals include a 3-year-old male and a 2-year-old female, both of which will spend a month in quarantine before adjusting to their environment at the Taipei City Zoo prior to public display.
Zoo officials have not yet chosen names for the pair. According to the Taipei Zoo, the male panda quickly began investigating his surroundings and started eating, while the female took a more reserved approach and chose to watch from a distance.
The last time Taipei received red pandas from a Chinese zoo in Fujian province was in 2014, the Taipei Times reported. These animals naturally inhabit China, Nepal, Laos, Myanmar, and other regional countries.
As part of this exchange agreement, Taipei will provide white-handed gibbons to Shanghai, according to the Taipei Times.
Despite ongoing political strain between China and Taiwan — the self-governed island that Beijing considers part of its territory — and the absence of formal government communication, exchanges at the municipal level have persisted.
