On November 19, the giant panda "Tuantuan" donated by the mainland passed away.
According to a press conference held by the Taipei Municipal Zoo that afternoon, the giant panda "Tuantuan" was found by the nurses and veterinarians on the morning of November 17 to be mentally poor, less willing to move, not interested in food, and did not respond much to the nurses' calls, so they began to strengthen the observation of the behavior of "Tuantuan". At 4:41 p.m. that day, "Tuan Tuan" suddenly developed epilepsy, and there were several seizures in the following short time, and the medical care team continued to administer infusions to stabilize the symptoms slightly. It was not until after 7:33 p.m. on the 17th that "Tuantuan" did not have epilepsy symptoms and fell asleep under the action of tranquilizers.
On the morning of the 18th, "Tuantuan" tried to get up and move, but his hind limbs still could not use his strength. At 1:05 a.m., 1:56 a.m. and 3:54 a.m. on November 19, the seizures recurred. After the application of anti-epileptic drugs, the symptoms of "Tuantuan" continued intermittently, until 7:03 a.m., although the epilepsy symptoms were temporarily stopped, but finally after testing, it was judged that the physiological indicators of "Tuantuan" were irreversible, such as awakening after anesthesia, which may bring great risk and pain to "Tuantuan". The medical team caring for the panda finally decided to put him to sleep under anesthesia, and at 1:48 p.m. that day, he observed that the "tuan tuan" had a cardiac arrest.
After the news came out, many people on the island expressed regret and reluctance.
Lien Zhan's office, former chairman of the Kuomintang, said on the afternoon of 19 July that Lien Chan was quite reluctant and regretted that the "regiment" had left everyone. The "joint office" said that it is expected that more giant pandas will come to Taiwan in the future, so that giant pandas can multiply and continue to take root in Taiwan, and cross-strait relations will also blossom in spring and continue peaceful exchanges.
Jiang Wanan said that "Tuantuan" has become the signature star of Taipei Zoo and is also a common memory of everyone, and the departure of "Tuantuan" makes everyone feel very reluctant.
Taipei Mayor Ke Wenzhe posted a message thanking "Tuantuan" for growing up and laughing with many Taiwanese for more than ten years, "Taipei Zoo is richer and more beautiful because of you, and so are our memories." 'Tuantuan' goodbye. ”
The death of "Tuantuan" also triggered discussions among netizens on both sides of the strait.
The giant panda "Tuantuan" was born on September 1, 2004 at the Wolong Base of the Giant Panda Research and Conservation Center, his father is a lingling living in Chongqing Zoo, and his mother is the first giant panda in China to be born overseas and returned to his hometown. Giant pandas are known as "living fossils" in the biological world, are first-class protected animals in mainland China, and are also known as "national treasures", because of their cute and cute image, they are welcomed and loved by people all over the world.
As early as 1988, Hong Wendong, known as the "godfather of Taiwan's panda", proposed the introduction of pandas to the island's legislature as a "people's generation", but due to political factors at the time, it was unsuccessful.
In 2005, Lien Chan, then chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, made an "ice-breaking trip" and visited the mainland for the first time, opening up an opportunity for cross-strait peace and expressing the good wishes of Taiwan compatriots to see giant pandas. As Peng Guosheng, director of Lien Chan's office, later said, Lien Chan's visit in turn led to the mainland's decision to give two giant pandas to Taiwan.
On the morning of May 3 of that year, entrusted by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, Chen Yunlin, then director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, announced in Shanghai that mainland compatriots presented Taiwan compatriots with a pair of giant pandas symbolizing peace, unity and fraternity.
On June 1, it was decided to present the giant pandas to Taiwan compatriots by Wolong China Giant Panda Research and Conservation Center.
On August 9, the selection of giant pandas was officially launched, and the expert group for the selection of giant pandas from Taiwan was established.
On August 19, the five selection criteria for giant pandas in Taiwan were announced, namely: age standards, physical health standards, mental health standards, physical characteristics standards, and genetic standards.
On August 27, a symposium of experts and scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait was held in Wolong to discuss matters related to the giant panda's visit to Taiwan.
On October 13, the National Taiwan Office presented 11 shortlisted giant pandas from Taiwan compatriots, including 6 males and 5 females.
On January 6, 2006, after 218 days of selection, No. 19 and No. 16 stood out and became giant pandas presented to Taiwan.
At the Spring Festival Gala in 2006, after the votes of hundreds of millions of viewers, it was finally announced that the giant pandas presented to Taiwan were named "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan", showing the good wishes of the mainland people for cross-strait reunion.
Of course, the panda went to Taiwan was not all smooth sailing, especially when Taiwan was in power for Chen Shui-bian, and political wrangling within Taiwan led to the fact that the giant panda went to Taiwan many times, until 2008, after Ma Ying-jeou took office, the giant panda went to Taiwan became a reality.
In 2008, two giant pandas about to travel to Taiwan were hit by the Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, but the two cute pandas escaped unharmed.
On December 23, 2008, "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan" took off from Ya'an Bifeng Gorge in a closed truck, took off at Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, arrived at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport at 5:10 pm on the same day, and checked into Taipei Municipal Zoo. After the quarantine period, on January 26, 2009, "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan" officially met with tourists.
Hao Longbin, then mayor of Taipei, had previously built a giant panda pavilion at the Taipei Municipal Zoo, which was used by them with a total of 1,320 square meters, including nearly 700 square meters of outdoor exhibition hall, about 482 square meters of indoor exhibition space, plus two pens and waiting rooms. "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan" can go out in the sun at any time, keep a constant temperature of 20 degrees Celsius indoors, and the bamboo warehouse can store 5 tons of bamboo leaves a week.
Taiwan gave back Chinese mainland pair of sika deer "Stars" and "Dian Dian" and a pair of long-maned goats "Pleasant Goat" and "Le Sheep" in 2011. The cross-strait gift of conservation animals is a good story.
For 14 years, "Tuantuan" and "Yuanyuan" have been arguably the most popular stars of Taipei Zoo, with long queues and sometimes limited time limits.
In 2013, they gave birth to their first red panda, named "Yuanzai", and in 2020, they gave birth to the second child, "Yuanbao".
Until August this year, Tuantuan developed epilepsy symptoms for the first time, and on October 16, his health deteriorated sharply, with weakness in hind limbs, poor appetite, and much less mobility; After magnetic resonance examination, it was found that the brain lesions of the "tuantuan" were significantly enlarged, and the probability of malignant tumors was greatly improved.
After the "tuantuan" fell ill, the two sides of the strait actively communicated on its medical issues.
According to a Taiwan source, since the "tuantuan" reported its illness in late September, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council has paid close attention to it as soon as possible, and took the initiative to contact the zoo, saying that if there is a need to invite mainland experts to come to Taiwan, the relevant departments will give full assistance.
At the same time, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, also said that the Sichuan Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center set up an expert group in late September to maintain close contact with the zoo. The mainland side has received an invitation letter and will send two diagnosis and treatment and nursing experts to Taiwan to participate in the treatment and nursing work of the "tuantuan".
At that time, the zoo responded, initially interrogating with mainland experts, and then looking at the situation. On the 27th, the Mainland Affairs Council received an application from the Taipei City Government for mainland experts to come to Taiwan, and immediately contacted the relevant ministries for rapid approval. After the China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center was invited, two experts, Wu Honglin and Wei Ming, were immediately dispatched and arrived in Taiwan on November 1 to participate in the rescue of giant pandas. This is also a very rare benign interaction since the deterioration of cross-strait relations, and it has even been interpreted by the outside world as a certain degree of improvement in cross-strait relations.
After many observation and consultation with experts on both sides of the strait, they pointed out that although the condition of "Tuantuan" at that time was slightly improved, because the cause could not be accurately determined, based on the unpredictable results of surgery, they unanimously agreed to take conservative treatment, but unfortunately they were unable to recover in the end.
For example, Huang Jincheng, vice chairman of Taiwan's "Agricultural Committee," said in a previous interview that the original agreement seemed to say that the giant pandas were owned by the mainland side, but only exhibited in Taiwan, and "if necessary, they can be taken back." This cold-blooded remark caused Golden City to be scolded half to death, and later the Taiwan "Agricultural Committee" changed its words to say that it was a "slip of the tongue."
Recently, there have been many slips of the tongue by officials on the island, and another example was the discussion on suicide prevention among Taiwanese adolescents at the International Review Conference of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Statistics have found that suicide is the second leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24 in Taiwan, and there has been a continuous increase in recent years. Therefore, when asked why Taiwan's birth rate is so low and the teenage suicide rate is still so high, Chen Lizhong, director of the Department of Mental Health of the health and welfare department of the Taiwan authorities, said something surprising, directly blaming the reason for the "increase in high-rise buildings in Taiwan". The decline in the personal qualities of officials on the island has led to repeated speeches such as Golden City and Chen Lizhong, who lack basic humanistic care and are not inappropriate.
The giant panda "Tuantuan" is not only an animal star, but also indeed represents the warm exchanges and close exchanges between the two sides of the strait in the past, as well as the goodwill between each other, which is nostalgic and makes people ask, why did the two sides of the strait come to this?
The author丨Xu Yi, Shenzhen Satellite TV direct news special writer