The Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City on Sunday celebrated the 35th birthday of the giant panda Xin Xin, who is the oldest among the rare Chinese animals living overseas.
Xin Xin is the grandchild of two giant pandas, Ying Ying and Bei Bei, who were presented to Mexico by the Chinese government in the 1970s. Currently, the female panda is the only giant panda in Latin America.
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Chapultepec Zoo celebrates 35th birthday of panda Xin Xin in Mexico City
Chapultepec Zoo celebrates 35th birthday of panda Xin Xin in Mexico City
Chapultepec Zoo celebrates 35th birthday of panda Xin Xin in Mexico City
Chapultepec Zoo celebrates 35th birthday of panda Xin Xin in Mexico City
A 35-year-old panda is roughly equivalent to a 110-year-old human.
The Chapultepec Zoo has always taken good care of Xin Xin by building an air-conditioned house for her, growing bamboos to ensure pandas' adaptation to local climate and food, and adding Cactus leaves, a local specialty, into her diet.
The zoo prepared a birthday cake, fruits and fresh bamboos for Xin Xin, and hundreds of Mexicans came to the zoo to attend the birthday celebration, many of whom wrote down their best wishes to her.
"We know that Xin Xin is going to celebrate her 35th birthday. If I remember correctly, it may be on Monday? We are very glad to see her up close. Usually, we don't see her every time we come. I'm so excited," said a local resident.
"Today is Xin Xin's 35th birthday. From my outfit, you can see that I'm a panda fan," said another one.
"What I wrote for her is 'Happy Birthday to You, Xin Xin' from Santiago," said a boy.
Chapultepec Zoo celebrates 35th birthday of panda Xin Xin in Mexico City
Chapultepec Zoo celebrates 35th birthday of panda Xin Xin in Mexico City
Chapultepec Zoo celebrates 35th birthday of panda Xin Xin in Mexico City
Chapultepec Zoo celebrates 35th birthday of panda Xin Xin in Mexico City
A massive public health blind spot has emerged in the Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as communication barriers are leaving many people with hearing impairment cut off from crucial health information about the deadly outbreak.
Since the ongoing Ebola epidemic was declared in May, the Congolese Red Cross (CRC) has launched a nationwide awareness-raising campaign, with posters put up on the streets and health messages broadcast on television and radio stations to reach as many residents as possible.
However, for the nation's deaf community, these life-saving updates have been hitting a wall of silence.
In the northeastern city of Kisangani, many deaf people still struggle to understand the message being disseminated, as it is not tailored to their specific needs.
"So far, preventive measures have only been explained to us superficially. We aren't truly equipped. We need adapted educational materials to better understand the signs of the disease and recognize the symptoms of Ebola," said Zacharie Dunga, director of the Espoir School for the Deaf in Kisangani.
The DRC government has announced targeted intervention plans, promising to restructure its public health response to fully integrate people with disabilities.
"We have implemented a range of strategies tailored to each group, including people with disabilities --the visually impaired, and the deaf or hard of hearing. We have produced communication materials in Braille. We are also refining our messaging to see how we can incorporate sign language interpreters to convey information regarding EVD (Ebola Virus Disease)," said Christian Tshilenge, an expert in risk communication and community engagement.
The current outbreak has become the largest and deadliest Ebola epidemic in the DRC's history and the second largest globally, behind the 2014-2016 epidemic in West Africa.
According to the latest data released by the DRC government, the country has recorded 7,541 confirmed Ebola infections as of Saturday, with 3,639 fatalities.
Communication barriers put deaf community at risk amid ebola outbreak in DR Congo
