Okay
Start
Welcome to Taiwan Talk
I'm Trevor Tortomasi
And this week, we travel to the jungles of
Muzha
Taipei Zoo
Taipei...
Moving...
Things...
Park
We at ICRT reached out to the Taipei Zoo for an interview
And we were lucky enough to speak with its spokesman
Mr. Eric Tsao (曹先紹)
Eric has been the face of the Taipei Zoo for many years
providing updates on its animals and projects
to inquiring news agencies
But, even more importantly
He has formed close relationships with other zoos
and global ecological movements
What kind of partnerships has the Taipei Zoo formed with
with other organizations around the world?
We joined the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums
so for those global or regional zoo communities
they have lots and lots of quite mature programs
to work for the endangered species
We learn from each other, but we also improve ourselves
like the veterinary skill
the husbandry skill
and the basic thinking about why we should have this animal
what all about the zoo
Eric also gave us a tour of one of the zoo's most recent projects
The Pangolin Dome
which was completed in 2019
So behind us
This is the Pangolin Dome
Has the Pangolin reached the level of "mascot" for the zoo?
Yes, they are one of our flagship species
As I said, they are critically endangered
Right now, Taipei Zoo is maybe one of the best zoos
that we can protect Chinese pangolins
and do the conservation breeding programs
and lots of conservation projects
We decided to provide the animals inside this dome
an opportunity so they can explore
in height and in surface area
relatively bigger, bigger than any other enclosure
Oh, this is also the Cotton-top Tamarin
It's also another critically endangered species from Columbia
So Singapore Zoo allocated
two breeding pairs to Taipei Zoo
and now we have quite a successful breeding program
Because many of these species cannot easily find their
uh, good enough, large habitat in nature
so they need time to make restoration of this
already damaged habitat, or destroyed habitat
So we keep these animals
in good number, in good health, in good genetic diversity
and later on, when the natural habitat has been restored
then these individuals can be
reintroduced back to their natural environment
This is one of the very rare aquariums that
directly receives the sunlight
so most of these fish can reflect their really natural color
like courtship coloration
The difficulty, actually, is how to
make sure that they can live together
without them eating each other too much
You said without them eating each other "too much"
has that happened before?
Yeah, because it's nature
because the arapaima could be a predator
So this is the largest freshwater Cyprinidae
freshwater stingray
I just need to take a second
That is a big ol' fish, huh?
From all the experiences that we collect through our work
we don't want any area ready only for single species
because this is real nature
it's not just, each cage you only have one animal inside
The capybara can clean up all the vegetation on the lower level
but the spider monkey can go all the way up to the tree canopy
So now we will be heading to the Panda House
The Taipei Zoo's male panda, Tuantuan
and its female panda, Yuanyuan
whose names together mean "reunion"
were gifted to Taiwan from China in 2008
as a symbol of cooperation
Now, usually China requires any panda cubs born as a result
to be returned to the mainland
So I asked Eric if there has been any pressure from China
since the birth of Yuanyuan's first cub, Yuanbao, in 2013
or the birth of her second cub, Yuanzai, in 2020
Well, many people know that Mainland China and Taiwan
have a very unique relationship
so when we talk about the giant panda
I think in the year of 2008, or before that
the legislators in Taiwan refused to receive the giant panda as a gift
so then through negotations
actually we went through the animal exchange program
so eventually, Taipei Zoo owned this pair of pandas
so the offspring, yeah, including their offspring
However
if we think about the conservation of giant panda populations
no matter if it's a wild population
or a population in captivity
you cannot work alone
for keeping the genetic diversity, for example
Eventually, you have to get rid of most of that political thinking
because a lot of times
no matter the habitat or the wild population
it's not a single geographical range
It's usually related to, maybe multi-country or multi-region business
Now, there's something I have to address
As I was researching for this interview
I received requests from a lot of people
who wanted me to ask about the mental health of the animals
especially those who live alone or in smaller enclosures
and it's not an easy question to answer
but the Taipei Zoo puts a lot of energy and careful planning
into animal welfare
Within our zoo community
Eventually, two major topics are the major concern
One is about
what kind of contribution we can do for conservation
The other would be about animal welfare
So it's a big issue
We need to make sure that the animals in our care
maybe we should provide them at least
an opportunity to choose
For example, like the different weather
Whether or not the giant panda wants to go outside
or they want to stay inside, that's their choice
If we can provide this choice
then we are in better shape
This is part of the behind-the-scenes enclosure
so we also have corridors, so the other pair
of cotton-top tamarins
They can go from the indoor facility, they make their own decision
if they wanna go outside, to receive any sunlight
Or be more away from people, too? Yes, yes
But for many other species, or individuals, unfortunately
Taipei Zoo may be designed for taking care of, maybe, four black bears
but all of a sudden you will see that
because we have to help each other under this government structure
so a lot of the time, we receive black bears
because somebody else did a lousy job
So we can although provide them very good veterinary care
but the space will be very limited
so then we apply the limited resources
to give this animal in our care the better choices
That is the short-term that we can do
For the long term
we no longer receive animals easily
if we don't have a good conservation project
So then you can allocate the individual
or the one important, to really what they need
I think one thing to bear in mind is
The zoo will never copy nature
so we can never provide enough space for any individual animal
because the animal is supposed to move around
But, according to our experiences, especially
Most of the species in our collection now
turn into the ones that really need human care
They don't have enough natural habitats in the wild
so their population may drop very fast
For example, like the Chinese pangolin
The cotton-top tamarin, we just saw
So they need the zoo community to help
to establish the insurance population outside their natural range
And for a time
when the habitat can be reconstructed or restored
Then, many of these individuals can
be reintroduced back into the natural environment
Taipei Zoo staff are trying to find a way
to make Taipei Zoo better
but we do hope that when visitors come to the zoo
you are not visiting a jail
but rather, like the semi-natural environment, you are searching for animals
Taipei Zoo tries its best to transform into the
conservation institution
That's in the hope that when the visitors come to the zoo
they'll also have the opportunity to observe
the different animals, with different behavior
because when you know them better
you will have a better opportunity to protect them
if you have a choice
I want to give my heartfelt thanks to Eric
for both his patience and his passion
and to all the employees and volunteers
who continue to give their time to the animals
And I hope that we have, at the very least
addressed some concerns
because even in the world's most reputable wild animal parks
there are still improvements to be made
But a good zoo is more than just a collection of animals
It forms partnerships and develops programs
to help worldwide conservation efforts
It brings in volunteers, so that people can gain experience
in caring for various species
And it conducts research
so that we can keep moving in the right direction
So...
Yes
I believe the Taipei Zoo
is a good zoo
Until next time, I'm Trevor Tortomasi
on ICRT FM100