Pygmy hippopotamus “Hsiao-chu” has become a mother. Last year on Dec 15, the five-year-old “Hsiao-chu” gave birth to her first child at Taipei Zoo. The baby was given the name “Chu-chang,” which is a play on the character “chang” which means both “eldest” and “grow” in Chinese, as the hippo is not only Hsiao-chu’s eldest son, but the zoo also hopes the baby will grow up safe and sound. The now two-month-old Chu-chang has already grown from his initial birth weight of 5.23kg to a stable 10.4kg. He loves to play in the water with his mother.
The zoo says that on the day Hsiao-chu gave birth, zookeepers observed a slight inflammation on her external genitalia and noticed that she was also paying no attention to her other half. Hsiao-chu lay down outside to rest by herself and completely ignored the calls of zookeepers; they therefore left Hsiao-chu alone inside her house and waited for her to give birth. As expected, at 7:30pm that evening Hsiao-chu gave birth to Chu-chang.
Although Hsiao-chu is a new mother, she appears to be a natural mother. Whenever a zookeeper comes close, Hsiao-chu will block the way between Chu-chang and the zookeeper and even rush forward in an intimidating way, displaying a limitless and natural instinct to protect her precious baby. However, the newly-born Chu-chang spends most of his time asleep and, since the weather has again turned cold, zookeepers continue to spread straw on the floor of the delivery room and have also turned on heating equipment.
Photo courtesy of Taipei Zoo
照片：台北市立動物園提供
The zoo says Chu-chang, who is growing, loves to play in the water with his mother during fine weather and he has already learnt how to swim, hold his breath underwater and can even take his mother’s milk while in the water. You can often see mother and son nestled against each other within the water.
(Liberty Times, translated by Edward Jones)
侏儒河馬「小侏」當媽媽了！去年十二月十五日，台北市立動物園五歲的「小侏」產下第一胎，寶寶就取名「侏長」，除了是「小侏」的長子，也希望牠平安長大。兩個月大的「侏長」已經從出生時的五．二三公斤穩定成長到十．四公斤，而且最喜歡跟著媽媽在水中玩耍。
動物園說，「小侏」生產當天，保育員就觀察到牠的外陰部些微紅腫，還撇開另一半，獨自躺在戶外休息，對保育員的呼喚也不理不睬，於是讓牠單獨在室內待產，果然晚上七點半就生下「侏長」。
雖然「小侏」是新手媽媽，但似乎具備了天生的母性，每當保育員靠近，「小侏」就會擋在保育員和「侏長」之間，甚至作勢往前衝威嚇，照顧寶寶的天性表露無遺。不過，剛出生的「侏長」大部分時間都在睡覺，又遇冷天，因此保育員還是在產房地面鋪上乾草，開啟保溫設備。
動物園說，穩定長大的「侏長」好天氣時最喜歡跟著媽媽到水裡玩耍，已經會游泳、閉氣潛水，還會在水中喝奶，常可見母子水中相依偎的畫面。
(自由時報記者謝佳君)
Pigs that are resistant to a deadly viral disease have been created by scientists at Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute. The gene-edited animals remained healthy when exposed to classical swine fever (CSF), a highly contagious and often fatal disease. The virus was eradicated in the UK in 1966, but there have been several outbreaks since and it continues to pose a major threat to pig farming worldwide. “Classical swine fever is a devastating disease for livestock and farmers as we saw with the outbreak in the UK, 25 years ago,” said Helen Crooke, mammalian virology deputy leader at the Animal and Plant Health Agency
Have you ever seen a circular intersection where cars continuously flow in one direction around a central island? That is a “roundabout,” a well-known alternative to traditional intersections. Drivers enter and exit at different points without relying on traffic lights. Their primary purpose is to improve traffic flow and minimize the likelihood of high-speed collisions, particularly dangerous T-bone and head-on crashes. Roundabouts have existed and been implemented for over a century. In the 1960s, the modern roundabout emerged in the UK, with added rules for yielding. Unlike intersections with red lights, roundabouts allow vehicles to continue moving at a
A: So you’re reading Jin Yong’s martial arts novel again? B: Yup, Jin’s novels are so fascinating, especially the trilogy: “Legends of the Condor Heroes,” “Return of the Condor Heroes,” and “Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber.” A: The late novelist published his first story in 1955, which means this year marks the 70th anniversary of his “wuxia” world. B: Wasn’t an English version of “Legends of the Condor Heroes” also released in 2018? A: Yes, but the debate over the translation of kung fu moves continues — like the evil move “Nine Yin Skeleton Claw.” A: 你又在重讀金庸的武俠小說啦？ B:
A: Apart from Jin Yong, the late martial arts novelists Liang Yusheng and Gu Long were also very popular. B: Wasn’t Liang a pioneer of the “new school” wuxia genre in the 20th century? A: Yup, I really like his Tianshan mountain series. All the characters — such as the “White Haired Demoness” — are so vivid. B: The roles in Gu’s books are lively, too — like the “Fragrant Commander” Chu Liuxiang. A: And the TV drama adapted from the Chu Liuxiang series swept across Taiwan in the 1980s, with ratings surging over 70 percent at that time.
RSS