台北動物園でベビーブーム　パンダやセンザンコウの赤ちゃん、コロナ禍に光

【台北ＡＦＰ＝時事】台湾最大の動物園で、ここ数か月間にパンダやセンザンコウなどの赤ちゃんが次々と生まれている。新型コロナウイルス感染症（COVID-19）の影響で来園客が減少する中でのうれしいニュースだ。（写真はタイワンカモシカ。台湾の台北市立動物園で）
　台北市立動物園では今年の来園客数が減少しているが、園の関係者はベビーブームの真っただ中で大忙しだ。
　今年に入ってからこの動物園では、タイワンカモシカ、ユーラシアカワウソ、ケープペンギン、コアラ、マーモセット、ボリビアリスザルなどの赤ちゃんが生まれている。
　園の広報担当者エリック・ツァオ氏はＡＦＰに対し、「欧州や東南アジアの動物園や水族館と連携した多くの国際プロジェクトで繁殖が成功し、今年は非常に幸運だ」と述べた。
　ＣＯＶＩＤ-１９流行への台湾の対応は世界的に評価されており、台湾は流行による打撃をおおむね免れている。ツァオ氏によると、それでも来園客数はＣＯＶＩＤ-１９が原因で２０～３０％減少したという。
　ベビーブームの中でも特に興奮をもたらしたのは、ジャイアントパンダ「円円（ユエンユエン）」にとって第２子となった雌の赤ちゃん「円宝（ユエンバオ）」だ。
　中国政府は通常、他国に対してパンダの貸し出しのみを行っており、貸出先の国で生まれたパンダは中国に返還しなければならない。
　しかし台北当局によると、円円とそのパートナー「団団（トゥアントゥアン）」は中国からの贈り物としてやってきたため、子パンダも例外的に台湾に残れるという。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/10/01-11:30）

Taiwan's largest zoo has celebrated a flurry of births in recent months -- including pandas and pangolins -- in a welcome boost during a visitor slump due to the coronavirus.
Human footfall to Taipei Zoo may have dropped this year but officials have been kept on their toes with an animal baby boom that has just kept coming.
Formosan serows, Eurasian otters, jackass penguins, koalas, marmosets and black-capped squirrel monkeys have all added to their ranks since the beginning of 2020.
We are very lucky this year with successful breedings from many international cooperation projects with our partner zoos and aquariums in Europe and Southeast Asia, Taipei Zoo spokesman Eric Tsao told AFP.
Tsao said visitor arrivals are down 20-30 percent because of the virus -- even though Taiwan has emerged largely unscathed from the pandemic thanks to a response that has won global recognition.
The birth that has garnered the most excitement is Yuan Bao, the second female cub born to giant panda Yuan Yuan.
Yuan Yuan and her partner Tuan Tuan have been star attractions at the zoo since their arrival from China in 2008 as a symbol of what were then warm relations between the two sides.
Three-month-old Yuan Bao -- round baby in Mandarin -- has grown into a robust cub currently weighing five kilogrammes, up from 186 grammes at birth.
The zoo has posted regular pictures of Yuan Bao on its social media platform and the public will likely be able to catch a glimpse of her in person by the end of the year.
Beijing usually only loans its critically endangered pandas and any progeny must be sent to China.
But in a rare departure from that protocol, Taiwan was allowed to keep the cubs as their parents were a gift, according to Taipei officials.
Earlier this month another of the zoo's most popular animals added to the growing nursery.
Mofen -- a Malayan tapir who featured in director Ang Lee's Oscar-winning film Life of Pi -- gave birth shortly after a Czech delegation visited Taiwan.
The timing was fortuitous as Mofen's mate came from Prague Zoo.
Taipei and Prague have grown closer in recent years, much to the annoyance of Beijing, which claims Taiwan and tries to keep the democratic island internationally isolated.
Taipei is preparing to send two pangolins to Prague Zoo -- including a male born in April -- as part of an exchange agreement between the two sister cities.
Tsao said he hoped the spate of new arrivals will help raise conservation awareness among the public.
The role of a zoo has evolved from collecting exotic animals in the last century to carrying the responsibility to help prevent the extinction of endangered animals, he said.
The zoo has to play an important part to maintain a safe population for the endangered species under its care... in the hope that one day they can return to their natural habitats.