Ladybbird

BBC News, 6 January 2014

Giant panda cub Yuan Zai unveiled in Taiwan’s Taipei zoo




The panda cub made her public debut on Monday, as Cindy Sui reports


A giant panda cub has made her highly-anticipated debut at a zoo in Taiwan.

Six-month-old Yuan Zai, the island's first giant panda cub, was unveiled to the media on Saturday and then to the public on Monday.
She climbed around her cage before retiring for a nap with her mother, much to the delight of visitors.

Her parents Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names together mean "reunion" in Chinese, were given to Taiwan by China in December 2008.

Taipei zoo expects 19,000 visitors daily to see its newest attraction.

The BBC's Cindy Sui says many visitors took time off from school and work to see the panda cub, which currently sleeps for about 20 hours each day.




Yuan Zai was separated from her mother for a few days after she was born


Director of Taipei Zoo Jin Shih-chien said Yuan Zai was generally active for about 20 minutes at a time, and advised visitors to be patient if they found her asleep.
Taipei zoo staff had to separate tiny Yuan Zai from her mother a few days after her birth in July.

She was raised in an incubator after a slight injury in her leg.

The pandas have become star attractions at Taipei zoo, as well as a symbol of warming ties between China and Taiwan, and panda mania has swept the island since Yuan Zai was born.

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