In these politically correct times, zoos have become less about caged animals and more about educating the public about the humane treatment of animals as well as the urgent need to protect endangered species. The Taipei Zoo seeks to reinforce these messages while continuing to welcome a record number of visitors.
On September 28, 2000, a single egg was laid under the spotlight of immense media and public attention. All of Taiwan, it seemed, was captivated by this "egg mania," which lasted for sixty-five days. The proud parents, meanwhile, were oblivious to the scrutiny of their every movement and behavioral quirk--they were after all, King Penguins. Although in the end, the public had to wait for another set of parents to successfully hatch the Taipei Zoo's first live penguin, the fascination with the orange-beaked, golden-necked marine birds continued unabated.
During the Lunar New Year holiday in January the following year, the Taipei Zoo welcomed a record 87,833 visitors in a single day, many of whom made the trip specifically to see the fourteen King Penguins that were purchased from the United States and Japan. Only the National Museum of Natural Science in central Taiwan's Taichung City rivals the zoo in popularity, and it greeted slightly over twice that number during the entire month.
Beyond the extraordinary interest in these feathered superstars, a segment of the population has shown a sustained interest in visiting the zoo. According to the central government's Tourism Bureau, the Taipei Zoo has become Taiwan's most popular tourist attraction in recent years. In 2001 alone, 5.47 million people visited the zoo, over two times the number of people who visited the internationally renowned National Palace Museum. The zoo's immense popularity can be attributed to basic human nature, says Chen Pao-chung, director of the Taipei Zoo. "As urbanization and industrialization increasingly distance people from nature, something continues to linger inside them that draws them to wildlife and scenes of nature. It was where they had once belonged in time immemorial."
Humans have long held animals in captivity. From ancient times the ownership of wild animals bestowed prestige and power upon their captors. In the zoological gardens of England and Germany from the eighteenth century onward, zoos acted as dens for scientific categorization and investigation. Since then, however, zoos have undergone considerable modifications in character and mission.
The Taipei Zoo began under private ownership during Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945). In 1915, the Taipei administration purchased the original site in Yuanshan in honor of Japan's new emperor and two decades later, the 4.5-hectare park became one of the largest zoos even compared with those in Japan proper. During World War II, the Japanese administration killed many of the zoo's animals for fear that they would escape amid the Allied air raids and endanger the public. Once the war was over, the zoo was renovated and reopened to the public. In the 1970s, the park was expanded to 5.8 hectares and experienced a revival of popularity among the island's residents.
As zoos around the world evolved from showcasing exotic animals in cramped, cement-paved cages to providing a more naturalistic environment, the Taipei Zoo found itself in need of expansion. In 1986, after thirteen years of planning and construction, the zoo was moved from its original location in Yuanshan to the southern border of the Taipei basin in Mucha, where it is situated on a much more spacious area of 165 hectares among wooded hills.
The individual exhibits of the new location were designed to feature surroundings that closely resemble the natural habitats of the animals on display. In addition to Formosan creatures, indoor and outdoor exhibits feature birds and other animals from Australia, Africa, and the tropical rainforests of Asia. The zoo also includes an educational center, nocturnal animal house, as well as separate houses featuring the zoo's two main attractions--koalas and penguins. Two additional houses, one for reptiles and another for insects, are also under construction.
The new location and design of the Taipei Zoo not only provide a more humane approach that benefits animal health and visitor appreciation, but also suggest a fundamental concern for ecological holism. The Taipei Zoo is now in the process of carefully replicating natural habitats that are able to sustain different species. "We're still trying to overcome difficulties with the new format, such as territorial infighting and preying," notes Lin Hua-ching, general curator of the zoo's Animal Department. The zoo is currently experimenting with smaller animals such as reptiles and amphibians, he adds. Further trials will include the restructuring of the African exhibition area where different animals such as antelopes and zebras will share a simulated African plain.
An even more unconventional approach regarding zoo management seeks to provide an environment where creatures are able to move at will instead of being confined. Plans are underway to create a wetland for this purpose. "Many marshlands were eradicated because they were considered a useless mess that attracted nothing but flies and mosquitoes," Lin explains. "Our model will help people learn about the ecological importance of wetlands and the need to preserve them."
Such efforts reflect a major adjustment of a zoo's role in society. "Since the early 1990s there's been a call for zoos to play a more active part in promoting species conservation and environmental education," Director Chen Pao-chung says. This global trend is manifest not only in the design of zoos, but also in zoos' efforts to preserve wild habitats. The Taipei Zoo, for example, is currently involved in conservation programs for the Striped Slender Frogs in Taipei County and the Chulo Green Tree Frogs in southern Taiwan's Chiayi County. The zoo is working with local governments, schools, and interest groups to promote public awareness of the endangered species and the need to protect their natural habitats.
The zoo's efforts include "renting" space for frogs from landowners, who are asked not to cultivate the land in ways that are harmful to the frogs' well-being, such as using fertilizers or herbicides. Moreover, the zoo is helping landowners to cultivate lotus products on ponds inhabited by Taipei frogs, and assisting in selling such items. "If farmers feel that it's a profitable business, they'll leave the land as it is," says Joann Chang, who is one of three full-time workers for the Taipei Zoological Foundation.
This foundation was established in 1999 with funds from corporate sponsors to provide a bridge between the Taipei Zoo and the private sector, among other things. "Sometimes people think our group is a part of the zoo," Chang says. "But we're actually more flexible and effective in responding to the public's needs." The foundation has hosted a number of activities at the Taipei Zoo, such as parent-child camps and regular courses on animal science for zoo volunteers and the general public.
The foundation also helps finance some of the zoo's projects, particularly the unscheduled ones that are not covered under the planned budget. Due to decreasing financial support from the government and the increasing work that needs to be done, the zoo must seek financial donations beyond the city government administration and the admission revenues, Chang points out. "If we double the admission fee, we might be able to make ends meet," Chen Pao-chung notes. "But we can't get approval from the city because we're defined as an educational center for the general public."
A plan to raise funds for the zoo, which won the city's approval in July 2002 and has yet to be launched, involves soliciting public donations of NT$1,000 (US$29) a year to "adopt" an animal. Among the twenty-one species of animals in the adoption program, about half are indigenous to Taiwan and the other half are the zoo's more popular exhibits, such as penguins and koalas. "The donations will help fund the zoo's education, research, and conservation programs," Chen says. "We'd like to get at least ten thousand adopters a year."
In response to the criticism that the zoo has built a craze for certain "animal stars" from abroad, such as the koalas and penguins, Lin Hua-ching says that the interest stimulated for any of the zoo's animals helps raise awareness and money for the conservation of the species. He points out that although the protection of various species with the view to maintaining biodiversity is a relatively new job for the zoo, it is likely to act as a crucial force that coordinates and integrates available resources. "More often than not, conservation requires a space where animals, especially the endangered ones, are kept under observation," he explains. "And the zoo is quite experienced with the confinement of animals, which requires an appropriate environment to stimulate their physical and mental health."
The Taipei Zoo's conservation efforts have not gone unrecognized. It recently won the right to host the 2004 annual meetings of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group. The international exposure will further confirm the zoo as an institution that engenders respect for all animals and represents a holistic view of nature, says Director Chen Pao-chung. In addition to offering leisure and recreation, zoos educate the public about animals, encourage the preservation of animals' natural habitats, and inspire a greater compassion for wild creatures. Above all, they hold a multitude of species, not just the most popular or cutest ones. In the final analysis, the King Penguin's egg may have helped hatch a great awakening to the interconnection among all living things.