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Taipei Zoo

zoo Taipei, Taiwan

Taipei Zoo, located in Wenshan District of Taipei, Taiwan, is the oldest and largest zoological institution in Taiwan, originally established as the Maruyama Zoo during the Japanese colonial period in 1914 before relocating to its current site in 1986. As a member of the Southeast Asian Zoos and Aquariums Association, it manages a 165-hectare campus that hosts more than 2,000 individuals of 300 species, including critically endangered taxa such as Ailuropoda melanoleuca (giant panda), Panthera tigris amoyensis (South China tiger), and Chelonia mydas (green sea turtle), with its conservation work overseen by the Taipei City Government Department of Information and Tourism. The zoo’s most famous residents, giant pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, arrived in 2008 under a cross-strait cultural exchange agreement, and their 2013 cub Yuan Zai became the first giant panda successfully born and raised in Taiwan, a joint achievement with the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant

Taipei Zoo houses giant pandas under international loan agreement with the China Conservation and Research Center, as part of the cooperative panda diplomacy and ex-situ conservation network.

How this page is organized

Start with the pandas, then move outward into the surrounding archive

This page gathers the residents linked to Taipei Zoo, the key moments recorded here, nearby institutions, and the articles that add context.

Resident archive

Pandas connected to this place

6 pandas recorded

Currently at Taipei Zoo

The pandas currently recorded at this institution.

5 active

Yuan Bao

圆宝

Alive
6 years old
Taipei Zoo

Yuan Bao (圆宝, "Round Baby"), studbook #1265, is a female giant panda born June 28, 2020 at Taipei Zoo. She is the second...

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Yuan Zai

圆仔

Alive
13 years old
Taipei Zoo

Yuan Zai (圆仔, "Rice Ball"), studbook #987, is a female giant panda born July 6, 2013 at Taipei Zoo — the first giant pan...

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Yuan Bao

圆宝

Alive
6 years old
Taipei Zoo

Yuan Bao (圆宝, studbook #1264) is a female giant panda born June 28, 2020 at Taipei Zoo — the second cub of the famous cr...

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Yuan Yuan

圆圆

Alive
21 years old
Taipei Zoo

Yuan Yuan (圆圆, studbook #587) is the female half of the famous cross-strait panda pair "Tuan Yuan" (团团圆圆), gifted to Tai...

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Yuan Zai

圆仔

Alive
13 years old
Taipei Zoo

Yuan Zai (圆仔) is a female giant panda born July 6, 2013 at Taipei Zoo — the first giant panda ever born in Taiwan. Daugh...

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Born here

Pandas whose birth place is recorded as Taipei Zoo.

4

Yuan Bao

圆宝

Alive
6 years old
Taipei Zoo

Yuan Bao (圆宝, "Round Baby"), studbook #1265, is a female giant panda born June 28, 2020 at Taipei Zoo. She is the second...

View profile

Yuan Zai

圆仔

Alive
13 years old
Taipei Zoo

Yuan Zai (圆仔, "Rice Ball"), studbook #987, is a female giant panda born July 6, 2013 at Taipei Zoo — the first giant pan...

View profile

Yuan Bao

圆宝

Alive
6 years old
Taipei Zoo

Yuan Bao (圆宝, studbook #1264) is a female giant panda born June 28, 2020 at Taipei Zoo — the second cub of the famous cr...

View profile

Previously recorded here

Pandas that were once linked to this institution.

1

Tuan Tuan

团团

Deceased
21 years old
Taipei Zoo

Tuan Tuan (团团, studbook #588) was the male half of the iconic cross-strait panda pair "Tuan Yuan," gifted to Taiwan in 2...

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Recorded moments

Archive timeline at Taipei Zoo

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2025
Jun 28

Yuan Yuan gives birth to third cub

Yuan Yuan gave birth to her third daughter at 1:53 PM, weighing 186 grams with a strong cry. Conceived via artificial insemination guided remotely by CCRCGP experts.

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2022
Nov 19

Tuan Tuan euthanized after repeated seizures

After a series of 7 seizures over two days, Tuan Tuan was euthanized under anesthesia. Necropsy confirmed gemistocytic astrocytoma — a primary malignant brain tumor.

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2022
Oct 26

Tuan Tuan diagnosed with brain tumor

A second MRI revealed an expanding lesion in Tuan Tuan's brain, with malignant tumor highly suspected. Mainland Chinese experts arrived on November 1 and agreed on palliative care.

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2020
Dec 29

Yuan Bao Makes Public Debut

Yuan Bao made her first public appearance at Taipei Zoo at 6 months old, weighing 22.5 kg, after completing quarantine observation.

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2020
Jun 28

Birth of Tuan Bao

Tuan Bao was born at taipei_zoo.

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2020
Jun 28

Birth of Yuan Bao

Yuan Bao was born at Taipei Zoo, the second daughter of cross-strait pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, continuing the "圆" family name tradition.

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2018
Dec 23

Tuan Tuan receives world's first titanium dental crown

After fracturing his left upper canine, Tuan Tuan received a custom titanium dental crown — the first ever fitted on a giant panda. The procedure marked a milestone in wildlife veterinary dentistry.

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2013
Jul 6

Birth of Tuan Tuan Jr.

Tuan Tuan Jr. was born at taipei_zoo.

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2013
Jul 6

Birth of Yuan Zai

Yuan Zai was born at taipei_zoo.

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2008
Dec 23

Tuan Tuan arrives in Taiwan

Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan arrived at Taipei Taoyuan Airport aboard a EVA Air charter flight after a 3-hour trip from Chengdu. They debuted at Taipei Zoo on Chinese New Year's Day, January 26, 2009.

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In the library

Further reading on Taipei Zoo

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Cover image for "Where Pandas Live: The Complete Global Distribution Guide"
Featured
Culture 📚 general

Where Pandas Live: The Complete Global Distribution Guide

The giant panda diaspora spans 58 locations across continents — from the misty bamboo forests of Sichuan to climate-controlled enclosures in Singapore, from mountain reserves that shelter free-ranging pandas to urban zoos that host celebrities. This article provides the definitive guide to panda geography: where they live, why they're there, what the distribution reveals about conservation history, and how the map has changed from 1869 to today.

distribution geography locations +4
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Cover image for "Behind Every Name: The Art and Meaning of Naming Giant Pandas"
Culture 📚 general

Behind Every Name: The Art and Meaning of Naming Giant Pandas

From 'Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan' (symbolizing reunion) to 'Fu Bao' (lucky treasure), every giant panda name carries layers of cultural meaning, political significance, and public sentiment. This article explores the naming traditions, the global naming contests, and how panda nicknames — like Hua Hua's 'Guo Lai' — have become a unique form of modern Chinese internet folk culture.

1 panda
naming culture tradition +2
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Cover image for "80 Years of Panda Diplomacy: From Wartime Gifts to Global Research Loans"
Featured
Culture 📚 general

80 Years of Panda Diplomacy: From Wartime Gifts to Global Research Loans

Trace the transformation of giant panda diplomacy from 1941, when Soong Mei-ling gifted the first pandas to America, through the landmark 1972 Nixon-era exchange, to today's international research loan agreements that channel millions of dollars annually into wild habitat conservation. This is the untold story of how a reclusive mountain bear became the world's most powerful diplomatic animal.

2 pandas
diplomacy history panda-loan +2
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World map

Where this place sits in the wider panda world

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Click a marker to open the place page Panda counts reflect current archive records

📍 All Locations

Coordinates: 24.9983 N, 121.5811 E

Archive notes

About Taipei Zoo

Taipei Zoo, located in Wenshan District of Taipei, Taiwan, is the oldest and largest zoological institution in Taiwan, originally established as the Maruyama Zoo during the Japanese colonial period in 1914 before relocating to its current site in 1986. As a member of the Southeast Asian Zoos and Aquariums Association, it manages a 165-hectare campus that hosts more than 2,000 individuals of 300 species, including critically endangered taxa such as Ailuropoda melanoleuca (giant panda), Panthera tigris amoyensis (South China tiger), and Chelonia mydas (green sea turtle), with its conservation work overseen by the Taipei City Government Department of Information and Tourism. The zoo’s most famous residents, giant pandas Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, arrived in 2008 under a cross-strait cultural exchange agreement, and their 2013 cub Yuan Zai became the first giant panda successfully born and raised in Taiwan, a joint achievement with the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant