Tuan Tuan on his fifteenth birthday
Taiwan asked Chinese veterinary experts to help treat a seriously ill male panda.
Beijing gave the giant panda, named Tuan Tuan, to Taiwan in 2008 with his female, Yuan Yuan.
But the 18-year-old bear has fallen ill, and Taiwan zookeepers suspect he has a brain tumor.
Taiwan called vets from China to help assess Tuan Tuan’s health as she moves to the antenatal care unit.
China gifted a panda and its female to Taiwan during a period of warm relations between the two neighbors, although their names together mean “reunion” or “unity”, possibly referring to Beijing’s desire to one day take back the control of Taiwan.
Relations were subsequently strained between China and Taiwan, which Beijing considers a separatist province.
It is not yet clear when the vets will arrive, but Taiwanese officials said they are finalizing the visa procedures.
Since their arrival, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan have become a major attraction in Taiwan.
“He was very young and cute when he first came here,” Heng Ling Lin, who took his children to the Taipei Zoo to wish the panda well, told AFP.
He added: “He was like a child to everyone. It breaks my heart now that I see him like that.”
