3-year-old mountain bongo called Harris arrives in Taiwan

2026-10-28

A 3-year-old male mountain bongo named Harris has made his way across the Pacific to his new home in Taiwan. Though Taipei Zoo already has five mountain bongos, they are all female, and therefore can’t breed. That’s why the Houston Zoo in Texas decided to donate a male animal to Taipei. After an 18-hour flight, Harris was greeted at Taoyuan International Airport by none other than the director of the American Institute in Taiwan. Let’s hear more.

Raymond Greene
AIT Director
The AIT was very proud to work with Houston City, Taipei City and their respective zoos and the Taiwan authorities to realize the survival for Harris. The US and Taiwan work very closely on bio safety as well as animal health, and so I think this is a success story for our cooperation.

Kevin Hodge
Houston Zoo Vice President
EVA Air treated us like first-class guests. Harris was calm throughout the whole flight, so we were able to give him food and water every two hours and it was perfect.

Ju Shiau-fen
Taipei Zoo Director
Our bongo antelope population currently consists of just five females. We hope this male, robust and young, can serve as a breeding male and help us increase the population. We expect to officially introduce him to the public after he finishes one-month in quarantine.

As soon as the plane touched down, airport staff held up a banner welcoming Harris to his new home. Mountain bongos are a kind of antelope with reddish-brown fur, distinctive white stripes and a pair of long horns. They are native to Africa and are among the world’s largest forest antelopes. The species is classified as critically endangered. Harris’s long journey to this side of the globe comes with an important mission: to help breed the next generation and bring new hope to conservation efforts in Taiwan.

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#bongo #harris #taiwan #houstonzoo #taipeizoo

跨海來台娶老婆! 瀕危"斑哥條紋羚"肩負保育重任抵台

2026-10-28

台北市立動物園園區內，有五隻瀕臨絕種的斑哥條紋羚，由於都是母的，無法繁殖，美國休士頓動物園，為了幫忙延續香火，特別送了三歲大的Harris給北市，昨天深夜歷經18小時飛行，平安抵達桃園機場，AIT處長谷立言還現身停機坪親自接機。

[[美國在台協會處長谷立言]]
“美國在台協會（AIT）非常榮幸，能與休士頓市及台北市的動物園，以及台灣當局攜手合作，促成了Harris今日的順利抵達，美台雙方在生物安全，及動物健康方面保持著非常密切的合作，我認為這是我們雙方合作的一個成功案例”

[[休士頓動物園副園長 Kevin Hodge]]
“長榮航空給了我們頭等艙貴賓般的禮遇，Harris在整個航程中表現得非常冷靜，因此我們能夠每隔兩小時，能給牠餵一些食物和水，一切都非常完美順利”

[[台北市立動物園園長朱孝芬]]
“我們現在斑哥羚羊的族群只剩下五隻母的，那我們希望這一隻公的，很健壯的公的，可以來當我們的種源，然後幫我們做斑哥羚羊的後代的繁殖，預計可能會在一個月檢疫透過之後，我們會正式對外來做展示”

飛機一降落，機場工作人員手舉橫幅，歡迎來到台北新家。"斑哥條紋羚"全身紅褐色毛髮，身上一道道白色條紋，頭頂還有一對彎曲的螺旋狀長角，是世界上體型最大的森林羚羊之一，原生在非洲的珍稀動物，野外族群"極度瀕危"。Harris這趟跨海旅程，肩負「傳宗接代」的重要任務，為瀕危物種保育帶來新希望。

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60kg sulcata tortoise floating belly-up downstream rescued

2026-10-28

Senior NHI premium exemption plan sparks equity concerns

Now that Taiwan is a super-aged society, demand for elderly care continues to grow and welfare resources are increasingly scrutinized. The Legislative Yuan recently passed a bill exempting people aged 65 and older from National Health Insurance premiums starting next year, and this has prompted concerns about additional government spending and the potential financial burden on the younger generation, as well as whether other social welfare programs would suffer as a result.

The National Health Insurance system provides comprehensive healthcare to everyone in Taiwan and has earned international recognition for its range of coverage and services. Recently, the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment exempting people aged 65 and over whose income falls below the 20% tax rate from paying premiums, sparking widespread debate.

Hung Tzu-jen
Taiwan College of Healthcare Executives director
People aged 65 and over account for about 43% of healthcare spending, with average annual medical expenses exceeding NT$90,000 per person. These costs will continue to rise with inflation, squeezing funding for other areas, such as the Long-Term Care 3.0 project, salary adjustments for healthcare workers, and the pace at which new drugs and technologies are covered by NHI.

Liu Huan-jui
Taiwan Young Patient Association secretary-general
The Executive Yuan estimates that expanding NHI premium subsidies to people aged 65 and older would require nearly NT$40 billion in additional funding each year. While supporting older people in financial need is important, Taiwan must establish a fair and sustainable system to ensure the NHI has sufficient resources to improve care, introduce new drugs, and safeguard the health of all generations.

Experts estimate that 83% of people 65 and over will qualify for the premium exemption. While this could ease the financial burden for older people, the additional costs could be shifted to younger generations and affect other social programs.

Wu Yu-chin
Active Aging Taiwan chair
Taiwan’s NHI system, a source of great pride, is something everyone cherishes and hopes will be sustainable. But this amendment makes young people wonder if they will have to shoulder the cost of NHI in the future, which would be unfair to them.

As the government adjusts its policies to support the nation’s aging population, it’s a challenge to ensure resources are allocated fairly and effectively.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
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#NHI #seniors #agingsociety #socialwelfare #amendment #premiums #exemptions #bill

2026-10-28

Hualien Sculpture Festival to feature light installations, music

This year’s edition of the Hualien International Stone Sculpture Festival will kick off in November. Based on the theme "under the skin of the earth," participating artists have been invited to explore the relationship between humans and the environment. Light installations and a concert featuring Golden Melody Award winners will be joining nine local and foreign artists who will showcase their original work.

Artists focus intently on their work, chipping away to bring the sculpture hidden inside the stone to life. The Hualien International Stone Sculpture Festival returns this year, featuring original work commissioned by the county government. This year’s theme, “under the skin of the earth,” likens the surface of the earth to an epidermis, interpreted differently by each sculptor.

Chen Hsuan-yu
Sculptor
The ocean here in Hualien is unique for Taiwan. It plunges straight down into a massive and extremely deep fault line. The fault line paired with the mountains creates a giant wall formed by the cliffs and the sea.

Lee Po-yuan
Sculptor
It’s about how the language of two people’s bodies interact. To me, boulders bring a sense of silent power.

Artists are incorporating Hualien’s dramatic ocean cliffside and the silent majesty of its rocky monoliths into their work. At the same time, the popular installation Breathing Stones, which drew 90,000 people to Sunrise Boulevard in Hualien the last time it was displayed, will come to Danongdafu Forest Park. The Hualien County Museum of Art will also feature many stone sculptures.

Chen Chien-tsun
Hualien Cultural Affairs Bureau director
We’ve invited sculptors who have come to Hualien before for the International Stone Sculpture Festival to come back and share their work again with all of us art lovers here in Hualien.

As a treat for the ears as well as the eyes, there will also be a concert held on the opening day of the festival. The exciting event is to feature Golden Melody-winning musicians Rich Huang and Baby Chung playing alongside renowned Swiss trumpeter Yannick Barman for a genre-spanning event to celebrate the start of this festival of the arts.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
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#Hualien #sculpture #art #artfestival #GoldenMelody #stonesculpture #artists

2026-10-28

From automation to autonomy: Industry trends in unmanned tech

As labor shortages intensify, unmanned technologies are emerging as a key solution to keeping society running. From hospital service robots to drones delivering emergency supplies, these technologies are moving beyond simple automation toward greater autonomy. The Industrial Technology Research Institute, or ITRI, is bringing industry leaders together to explore the latest developments and business opportunities in a series of seminars, as the sector looks toward a major growth period in the next four years.

ITRI on Wednesday held the inauguration ceremony of a series of seminars on industry development trends, with a focus on the outlook for 2027. Among the attendees were industry representatives from Qisda and the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robotics Association. One key topic was emerging trends in unmanned technologies and industrial applications.

Chi Chao-yin
ITRI ISTI
According to the National Development Council, labor productivity will have to increase by 40% by 2050 in order for society to function. That’s why unmanned technologies will take over to keep operations running. Humans may have to step back from doing frontline tasks and command the processes instead.

In the future, human workers may have to shift from frontline duties to behind-the-scenes roles such as managing and supervising. In hospitals, that means service robots can lead patients around the building and provide basic health information. In remote rural areas or disaster sites, drones can take over emergency supply deliveries, easily clearing geographic obstacles. Machines may even cooperate by themselves in the future, as unmanned technologies shift from automation to autonomy. The range of applications continues to expand.

Cally Ko
Qisda General Manager
There are two teams in our company. One, specializing in drones and the other, in physical AI, including four-legged and two-legged robots for commercial use. Orders have been placed already, and production has begun. The period from next year to early 2030 will be a huge boom in growth for the unmanned tech sector.

Industry players see strong growth potential for unmanned technologies, as applications extend to smart manufacturing, healthcare, logistics and energy infrastructure inspections. Over the next 8 days, more than 70 keynote speakers brought together by ITRI will share their insights at 16 seminar sessions, so that businesses are up-to-date on the latest industry trends.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#automation #autonomy #seminar #tech #unmannedtech

2026-10-28