Chinese panda gift dies in Taiwan zoo
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Tuan Tuan, one of two giant pandas given to Taiwan from China, died Saturday after a brief illness, the Taipei Zoo said.
No cause of death was immediately given, but earlier reports said the panda was believed to have a malignant brain tumor, prompting China to send a pair of experts to Taiwan earlier this month to help with his treatment.
Tuan Tuan did not respond and after a series of seizures Saturday was placed in an induced coma, according to Taiwanese news reports.
Tuan Tuan and his mate, Yuan Yuan, were given to the zoo in 2008 during a time of warming relations between China and Taiwan, which split amid civil war in 1949. Both were born in China in 2004 and succeeded in having a pair of cubs in Taiwan.
China sends pandas abroad as a sign of goodwill but maintains ownership over the animals and any cubs they produce. The animals are native to southwestern China, reproduce rarely and rely almost exclusively on a diet of bamboo.
An estimated 1,800 pandas live in the wild, while another 500 are in zoos or reserves, mostly in Sichuan, where they are a protected species but remain under threat from habitat loss.