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Chinese zoos interested in Taiwanese animals

Several Chinese zoos have expressed an interest in raising Formosan serows, Taipei City Zoo animal division chief Chao Ming-chieh (趙明杰) said on Tuesday.

The zoos expressed their interest after learning that Taiwan will ship a pair of Formosan serows and two Formosan sika deers to China as a gift in exchange for two of China’s giant pandas, Chao said.

Taiwan and China signed an agreement for the exchange of the pandas last November, and Tuan Tuan (團團) and Yuan Yuan (圓圓) arrived in December.

The zoo will select a pair of Formosan serows at optimum mating age to be shipped to China, Chao said.

Regarding reports that the Taiwanese animals will go to the Beijing zoo, Chao said the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait were still working on the departure schedule and where the animals would go.

The Taipei City Zoo would not ship more Formosan serows to Chinese zoos until the first pair is handed over, Chao said.

The population of Formosan serows is expanding, Chao said. Five were born at the zoo in the first two months of the year, bringing the zoo’s herd to 38 animals, said Chao, who is in charge of the Formosan serows conservation program.

That growth is a remarkable achievement in reviving the protected species, Chao said.

Serows, which resemble goats or antelopes, are Taiwan’s only native species in the bovine family, the zoo said.


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