The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) might allow Chinese veterinary experts to help treat Taipei Zoo’s male giant panda Tuan Tuan (團團), council Deputy Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said.
After having at least three seizures in August, Tuan Tuan was on Sept. 23 found to have a brain lesion.
Chen made the comments on Thursday, a day after China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) offered help from Chinese experts.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Zoo via CNA
Chen said the council had told the zoo that it could request permission for Chinese panda experts to visit should the panda require outside help, and assistance would be provided by government agencies.
The panda is being treated by a team of veterinary professionals, and the zoo is communicating with Chinese experts regarding the panda’s condition and pharmaceutical therapy, as well as other foreign experts who have experience in dealing with seizures in animals, he said.
The zoo informed the Bifengxia panda center in Sichuan, China, of Tuan Tuan’s health problems, and the center’s experts are highly concerned and willing to help, Zhu previously told a routine news conference.
The pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan (圓圓) have been a key attraction at Taipei Zoo and a favorite of Taiwanese children ever since they were gifted by China to Taiwan in 2008, she said.
Experts from Taiwan and China were able to encourage the two pandas to mate, and Yuan Yuan gave birth to Yuan Zai (圓仔) in 2013 and Yuan Bao (圓寶) in 2020, she said.
The TAO wishes Tuan Tuan a speedy recovery so that it can continue to be a companion to friends in Taiwan, she said.
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