New Year 'panda-monium' in Taiwan
Fri, Jan 9, 2009
Reuters

TAIPEI, Jan 9 (Reuters) - A Taiwan zoo will use a draw system to choose from an expected 90,000 people a day trying to get a glimpse of two giant pandas, goodwill gifts from China, when they go on show this month, an official said on Friday.

To keep order around the pandas, which were shipped from China last month, the zoo would limit daily viewing to 22,000 people, the official said. And they must file past the enclosure without lingering.

"This measure is to maintain decency and public safety at the site," zoo research officer Chin Shih-chien said. "It's also in consideration of the pandas' activity. They tend to sleep early."

China has claimed self-ruled Taiwan since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. It has vowed to bring the island under its rule, by force if necessary, but ties have improved since China-friendly Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May.

The pandas, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names said together mean "reunion", will go on display from Jan. 26, the first day of the Chinese New Year.

(Reporting by Ralph Jennings; Editing by Nick Macfie)