A pair of indigenous Taiwanese deer and a pair of its indigenous goat-like animals called Formosan serows left for their new home in China’s Shandong Province yesterday.
The endemic animals were first offered to China as gifts in 2008, in return for Beijing giving Taipei two pandas in December 2008 as a symbol of improved relations between the the two countries.
The Formosan serows, Taiwan’s only wild bovine animals, and the Fomosan sika deer left the Taipei Zoo at 8am for Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.
Photo provided courtesy of Taipei City Zoo
Accompanied by a veterinarian, the animals, aged between three and five, boarded a cargo plane to fly to their new home in Liugongdao National Forest Park in Weihai City.
Taipei Zoo spokesman Chao Ming-chieh (趙明杰) said nearly 30 staff members began preparations for the animals’ departure early yesterday.
Liugongdao has a mild temperature, but due to its higher latitude, it snows in the winter, Chao said, adding that the Chinese park has prepared indoor shacks for the animals to stay in through the winter.
As Formosan serows have an aversion to dry grass, the zoo also packed 480kg of fresh branches and leaves of mulberry, paper mulberry and horsetail trees as their “dowry,” Chao said.
“The zoo has also prepared about two weeks of food for them, so that they could enjoy food with a Taiwanese flavor in their new homes,” Chao said.
During a quarantine period, which will last one month, the accompanying veterinarian and other staff will take charge of their care before handing them over to local staff, Chao said.
Huang Shu-kuan (黃書冠), a feeder for the pair of Formosan serows since their birth, said that it was like “sending away my own daughters” with happiness and a twinge of sadness.
“Formosan serows are shy animals by nature,” Huang said.
He said he has trained them to get used to contact with people since last October.
“In addition to feeding time, I would sit in front of them between 15 minutes to half an hour every day,” Huang said.
In the beginning, the Formosan serows would run whenever they saw Huang approach. After a while, they felt sufficiently comfortable approaching him to be fed from his hands. Later they came near him when called.
The Liugongdao park covers an area of about 3.15km2, and has been breeding spotted deer since 1985. A total of more than 200 spotted deer are currently raised in the park.
To prepare for the animals’ transfer, the forest park’s staff have visited Taiwan regularly for more than a year to learn about the animals, their living environment and current management conditions.
According to Taipei Zoo figures, only 1,600 Formosan sika deer can be found in the wild in Taiwan, many of which have been bred in Kenting National Park, after the species became extinct in the wild in 1969.
The Formosan serow is listed as an endangered species by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement that protects endangered animals and plants.
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