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Pandas will add to Taiwan's `mad bears'

The Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan (EAST, 台灣動物社會研究會) and other animal welfare groups called a press conference yesterday to coincide with the Council of Agriculture's review of the decision to import giant panda's from China today, to protest the fuss being made over "exotic animals" at the expense of the welfare of animals already in Taiwan.

At the press conference, animal welfare activists said that the space for bears already kept at Taipei Zoo was inadequate, and that the addition of the giant pandas would only increase the population of "bears gone mad" through depravation of their natural habitat.

Chen Yu-min (陳玉敏), the director of EAST, claimed that the welfare of these animals was being exploited, and that Taipei Zoo, instead of using government funds and donations from the public to improve the living environment of its animal collection, was focusing on importing exotic species such as penguins, koalas and now pandas, while making these animals into commodities and curiosities for the general public.

Chen said that as a result the bears pace up and down in front of walls and shake their heads for up to an hour at a time, a clear sign of mental problems. Chen added that this was also reflected in the physical condition of the animals, and in their listless behavior.
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