1988年至2008年間，臺灣公、私立動物園五度向行政院農業委員會提出大貓熊輸入申請案。本文首先對「貓熊外交」、大貓熊短期租借和海外「科研合作」進行歷史性回顧，在此基礎上，對申請案進行歷史脈絡之重建。其次，本文對2005年大陸政府宣佈贈臺大貓熊以來，引起國内外關注及社會爭議的兩度申請案進行歷史事件的分析。對於臺灣而言，輸入大貓熊是在政治、保育、法治及民主程序等面向中極具爭議的問题。2008年國民黨總統候選人馬英九當選後，兩頭被命名為「圑圑」、「圓圓」（名字意味著中國大陸和臺灣的友好及親情）的大貓熊才在爭議之中抵臺。大貓熊來臺的歷史，亦反映了政黨輪替前後的「保育」論述之變化，以及具有政治、文化、保育象徵等多種意涵的貓熊在社會中角色。

From 1988 to 2008, a total of five applications for the importation of giant pandas were submitted by both public and private zoos in Taiwan to the Council of Agriculture of the Executive Yuan. The article first offers a historical review of the phenomena of panda diplomacy, panda rentals, as well as international scientific research cooperation in relation to pandas in modern Chinese history, and regards them as the appropriate contexts for understanding these applications. The article next enters into a close analysis of the last two applications made since 2005, which attracted both domestic and international attention, and eventually led to the arrival of a pair of giant pandas in Taiwan. The importing of giant pandas from Mainland China generated controversies at several levels: political, conservational, legislative, and procedural. Yet, despite the controversies, after the Chinese Nationalist Party presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou won the election in 2008, a pair of giant pandas named “Tuan Tuan” and “Yuan Yuan”, which together represent the Chinese word for “reunion”, arrived in Taiwan. This review of the application process regarding the admission of giant pandas into Taiwan first of all illustrates the changing discourses on “conservation” before and after the regime change in Taiwan in 2008. It also demonstrates how, as a vital political, cultural and conservational symbol, the meanings and roles of the giant panda have shifted greatly over time in Taiwanese society.