AsiaNews Magazine Jan10-16,2014 ( Jan 1-7,2014) | Seite 6

WEEKLY BRIEFING

January 10-16, 2014
AFP

A star is born
TAIPEI: Six-month-old giant
panda cub Yuan Zai debuted
to the public on January 6 and
attracted huge crowds with long
queues forming at the Taipei Zoo
even before it opened. The zoo’s
panda house could accommodate
as many as 19,200 visitors a day.
Yuan Zai has been a big sensation
in Taiwan since its birth in July

and was unperturbed by the
excitement as it padded around its
enclosure, climbed up and down
its perch and eventually took a nap
after about an hour of activity.
Zoo keepers had to separate Yuan
Zai from its mother, Yuan Yuan,
a few days after birth following a
wound. The mother and daughter
were reunited a month later with

the video of the reunion hitting
almost 2.5 million hits on YouTube.
Yuanzai was born after four years
of artificial insemination attempts,
using sperm from the only other
giant panda at the zoo, Tuan Tuan.
The pair of giant pandas was
given to Taiwan four years ago
by China to symbolise warmer
ties between the two sides.