Tag Archives: oceania

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Diplomatic test as Taiwan reaches out to China over sick panda

China's famous "Panda diplomacy" faces a test after a bear in Taiwan came down with a life-threatening brain lesion.

Taipei Zoo told CNN they had requested help from experts in China to treat their giant panda, Tuan Tuan, after an MRI scan revealed the damage.

They are hoping for support in treating Tuan Tuan after he began behaving abnormally, lost his appetite and suffered a three-minute seizure in late August.

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But the request raises the possibility of a delicate diplomatic balancing act, given relations between China and Taiwan have taken a nosedive since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the self-governing island in August.

China considers Taiwan part of its territory, despite never having governed it, and has vowed to "reunify" it with the Chinese mainland, by force if necessary.

Since Pelosi's visit, it has ramped up pressure on the island by holding a series of military exercises on its doorstep.

Now animal lovers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will be watching to see how it responds the zoo's request.

A goodwill gift – and a political token

Tuan Tuan and his partner Yuan Yuan were gifted to Taiwan by China in 2008 as a goodwill gift from Beijing – as part of its longstanding practice known as "panda diplomacy".

But the two animals, whose combined names form the word "reunion" in Chinese, were also a subtle political token of the Communist Party's view of Taiwan.

There have been some signs Beijing is willing to extend the olive branch.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for mainland China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said the Taipei Zoo had notified the Giant Panda Protection Research Centre in Chengdu, Sichuan province, of Tuan Tuan's condition.

And state-run news outlet China Daily reported on Wednesday that experts from China were willing to provide technical support to the zoo and help the animal.

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A Taipei Zoo spokesperson said it would "very much welcome the help" but added that Chinese experts "haven't specified whether they intend to send any experts here this time".

The spokesperson said that previously, "Both sides have cooperated closely to care for the giant pandas," and "regularly exchange knowledge."

"In the past, when the panda gave birth, they also sent experts to assist us," the spokesperson added.

Since being gifted to Taiwan, Tuan Tuan and his partner Yuan Yuan have given birth to two cubs, one in 2013 and another in 2020.

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In a statement, the zoo said Tuan Tuan was "recovering under observation behind the scenes" and it was "necessary to wait for all test results before clarifying the cause [of his illness]".

Pandas' average life span in the wild is 14 to 20 years, but they can live far longer in captivity, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Tuan Tuan turned 18 in August.

In July, the world's oldest male giant panda in captivity, named An An, died in captivity in Hong Kong's Ocean Park. It was 35 years old.

In 2017 the International Union for Conservation of Nature upgraded the species from "endangered" to "vulnerable" after their population grew nearly 17 per cent over the previous decade.

That move was mirrored by the Chinese government last year after the wild giant panda population increased to 1800.

Giant pandas are notoriously hard to breed in captivity, but after years of decline, their numbers in the wild have increased in recent years.

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Damning report finds 'devastating' flaws at Queensland hospital

Substandard and inadequate care led to the deaths of three infants and left women with lifelong physical and emotional injuries after being treated at Queensland's Mackay Base Hospital, a damning report has found.

Health Minister Yvette D'Ath nearly broke down in tears as she revealed the findings of an investigation into Mackay Base Hospital's obstetrics and gynaecology services.

"No family should ever have to experience the devastating loss of a child and certainly not under these circumstances," she said.

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Mackay Base Hospital Queensland

"To all the women and families who have been impacted by these failings, I offer my sincerest, unreserved apology."

Twenty-six women, including the mothers of the three infants, suffered below standard care which led to the harm, D'Ath added.

Those women have been offered compensation.

The report found there were "many examples of care that was below an acceptable standard of care for a Queensland hospital".

Investigators said there were many examples of "substandard clinical care, poor clinical incident monitoring, poor management of safety and quality, complications and clinical deterioration and poor human resource management".

"Systemic failures at all levels throughout the organisation allowed poor practice and bad behaviour to flourish, making O&G (obstetrics and gynaecology) care at Mackay Base Hospital less safe," the report read.

https://twitter.com/JessMillward9/status/1575646942696116224

Women suffer 'lifelong physical and mental harm', report says

D'Ath said over 170 women came forward to detail their experience at the hospital while the investigation interviewed 81.

"Many with difficult tales of things that had gone wrong, and many who have sustained lifelong physical and mental harm," the report detailed.

D'Ath said the women who came forward "shone a light on failings that have been hidden for far too long".

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Staff tried to raise concerns but were dismissed

The report found the staff at the hospital had tried to raise concerns but "were dismissed by senior staff", in particular after October 2020.

"Staff raised issues. Staff were ignored. That, I have serious concerns about," D'Ath said.

D'Ath said the staff who dismissed concerns have been referred to the health ombudsman office.

She added other individuals referred to in the report are no longer employed at the hospital and there has been a change in leadership.

Investigators said they recognised most health professionals want to do the best for their patients however there were collective failings at Mackay Base Hospital, by both staff and leadership.

"They should never forget that the success of an organisation is only made possible by the combined efforts of many, with responsible and responsible leadership from above," the report said.

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'Our health system can and must do better'

Investigators made 120 recommendations and D'Ath said 47 have been implemented.

"We owe it to the women who have come forward as part of this investigation to make improvements to clinical governance here in Mackay and elsewhere across the state," she said.

D'Ath said the report shows the health system broadly in the state "must do better".

The report began on November 1 last year and looked at the maternity and gynaecological departments at the hospital between July 1, 2019 and October 31, 2021.

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Lumpy skin disease kills 100,000 cattle in India

A viral disease has killed nearly 100,000 cows and buffaloes in India and sickened over 2 million more.

The outbreak has triggered devastating income losses for cattle farmers since the disease not only results in deaths but can also lead to decreased milk production, emaciated animals, and birth issues.

The disease, called lumpy skin disease, is spread by insects that drink blood like mosquitoes and ticks. Infected cows and buffaloes get fevers and develop lumps on their skin.

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Cows infected with lumpy skin disease stand at a cow shelter in Jaipur, Rajasthan state, India.

Farmers have experienced severe losses from extreme weather events over the past year: a record-shattering heat wave in India reduced wheat yields in April, insufficient rainfall in eastern states like Jharkhand state shriveled parched winter crops such as pulses, and an unusually intense September rainfall has damaged rice in the north.

And now, the virus has spread to at least 15 states with the number of cow and buffalo deaths nearly doubling in three weeks, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

The contagion spreading among cattle is having a disproportionate impact on small farmers, many of whom have insulated themselves from the shocks of climate change by rearing cattle for milk, said Devinder Sharma, an agriculture policy expert in northern Chandigarh city.

“It's a serious, serious issue and this (disease) … has been growing since the last couple of years,” he said, adding that the government figures were likely an undercount of the actual death toll from the disease.

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As its name suggest, lumpy skin disease gives cattle large lumps on their skin.

The first cases in South Asia were detected in 2019, and it has since spread to India, China, and Nepal. It was first recorded in Zambia in 1929 and has extended through Africa and more recently to parts of Europe.

Dairy is among the largest agricultural commodities in India, employing 80 million people and contributing to five per cent of its economy, per federal data. It's the world's largest milk producer, making up more than a fifth of global production — but exports are only a fraction of this.

To try and protect the industry, authorities are vaccinating healthy cows using a shot designed for a similar disease while efforts are underway to develop a more effective vaccine.

India's vast hinterland is now punctuated by mass graves of cows. In some places, the carcasses rot in the open and the pained cries of sick animals are resound in villages. Western Rajasthan state has seen the worst impact: 60,000 cattle dead and nearly 1.4 million sickened.

“The disease is contagious. It’s now shifting from the west to the east,” warned Narendra Mohan Singh, a director at Rajasthan state’s Animal Husbandry Department.

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In bordering Uttar Pradesh state, India's most populous, the trade and movement of cattle with neighboring states has been curbed. But farmers like Amarnath Sharma in Milkipur village say they have been left in the dark. Three of his five cows are sick and, while he has heard about the viral disease, he doesn't know how to help his livestock.

“If these animals don't get treatment, they'll die,” he said.

Farmers in affected states, like the Himalayan Himachal Pradesh, have also urged the government for financial aid.

Meanwhile, a study of the lumpy skin disease virus' genetic makeup found that it was very different from previous versions, said Vinod Scaria, a scientist at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi.

Viruses evolve all the time and not all these changes are harmful to health. But Scaria, who is one of the study's authors, said it exposed the need for continuous monitoring and tracking of diseases since it wasn't clear how the virus evolved in the past two years.

“If you had continuous surveillance, you would be prepared," he said.