Animals
Zoo in Prague is happy to welcome pangolins offspring
Shortly after its birth, the newborn eared pangolin lies on a hand in its enclosure at Prague Zoo. photo
© Miroslav Bobek/Prague Zoo/dpa
Eared pangolins are threatened with extinction, in Asia they are considered a delicacy. The joy in the Zoological Garden in Prague is all the greater. There are tiny offspring there – a great rarity.
The Zoological Garden in Prague is happy to welcome offspring of the endangered pangolins. The mammal baby is doing well one day after birth, a spokesman for the zoo said on Friday. The East Asian exotic weighs only 135 grams and its appearance is reminiscent of a pine cone. According to zoo director Miroslav Bobek, it is the first offspring of this species in a European zoo.
The first days in the life of the newborn pet are considered critical. It is still too early to determine the sex, it said. The pangolins are threatened with extinction because their flesh is consumed as a luxury dish in Asia and their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
The two pangolin parents, Run Hou Tang and Guo Bao, only came to the Czech Republic from Taiwan last April. This is a result of a new city twinning between Prague and Taipei, which was concluded three years ago under Mayor Zdenek Hrib of the Pirate Party.
However, relations with Beijing, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, have deteriorated. A long-running project to get giant pandas from China for the Prague Zoo is considered to have failed. Cost also played a role.
With more than one and a half million visitors last year, the Prague Zoo is one of the most visited attractions in the city on the Vltava. It also attracts many visitors from neighboring Germany.