Taipei Zoo celebrates giant panda Yuan Yuan's 22nd birthday

Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) Giant panda Yuan Yuan (圓圓) at Taipei Zoo turned 22 on Sunday, and the zoo marked the occasion with a livestreamed birthday feast featuring a "fruit and vegetable train" loaded with specially prepared treats.

The zoo's Facebook page broadcast the celebration, titled "Giant Panda Yuan Yuan's 22nd Birthday: A Fruit and Vegetable Train Loaded With Wishes for Senior Health," showing the panda first reaching for sweet sugar cane among the offerings.

The event was accompanied by the sound of visitors taking photos, as well as excited chatter from children and parents and cheers of "Yuan Yuan, I love you!" from the crowd, the zoo said.

Keepers designed a birthday meal featuring pineapple, carrots, grapes, kiwifruit, sugar cane and honeydew melon, with pumpkin and cucumber added. The treats were arranged alongside golden bamboo and arrow bamboo stalks.

The zoo said that while bamboo makes up the main part of a giant panda's diet, the birthday meal was designed not only as a nutritious seasonal snack but also to stimulate Yuan Yuan's senses and encourage exploration as she searches for foods she likes.

Such enrichment activities allow Yuan Yuan to discover, sniff and forage for her preferred foods, helping improve her quality of life through greater dietary variety and behavioral stimulation, the zoo added.

Now in her senior years, Yuan Yuan receives care that goes beyond simply providing food and rest, the zoo said. Keepers regularly monitor her weight, appetite, feces, activity levels and behavior, while adjusting medical care, diet and environmental enrichment based on changes in her physical and behavioral condition.

The zoo said special attention is given to dental care for elderly pandas. While hard bamboo stalks provide necessary fiber, they can also wear down teeth, so keepers carefully control the amount of stalks Yuan Yuan receives and supplement her diet with a variety of bamboo leaves.

Adjusting food portions and bamboo varieties also helps maintain healthy gut microbiota, it added.

The zoo said keepers conduct giant panda training sessions and educational talks at 3 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month in the Giant Panda House, allowing visitors to learn more about panda care.