Two panda experts from China who came to Taiwan to examine sick male giant panda Tuan Tuan (團團) agree with the decision made by Taipei Zoo to provide palliative care, zoo management said Wednesday.
Chinese veterinarians Wu Honglin (吳虹林) and Wei Ming (魏明) from the Wolong National Nature Reserve in China’s Sichuan Province agree with local experts that Tuan Tuan is too ill to undergo invasive treatment after being diagnosed with a brain lesion in September, the zoo said.
Owing to the sensitive position of the lesion, it is impossible to conduct surgery on the 18-year-old panda, Taipei Zoo spokesman Eric Tsao (曹先紹) said at a press briefing, not attended by the Chinese experts.
It is likely the treatment Tuan Tuan is currently receiving will continue, including daily medication to ease the symptoms, as well as intravenous fluids to prevent dehydration and a vitamin-rich diet to keep the giant panda’s strength up, the zoo said.
The Chinese experts, who arrived in Taiwan the previous day, will continue discussions with experts in Wolong to devise future treatment suggestions, Tsao said.
At 18, Tuan Tuan has already reached the 15-20-year lifespan of pandas in the wild, though they frequently live up to 30 years in captivity.
Asked about how the zoo will respond to the possible death of Tuan Tuan, Tsao said, it would keep the giant panda’s skeleton, fur, stem cells and sperm for research or teaching purposes.
Tuan Tuan is one of two giant pandas given by China in 2008 via a cross-strait animal exchange program to mark warming relations with Taiwan.
As a result, Taiwan will continue to “own” the panda even after its death, as well as the cubs born to Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan (圓圓), Tsao said.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel