Zoo bears need to diet

A Taipei City councillor said yesterday that Formosan black bears kept at Taipei Zoo were too fat. During a visit in the zoo, Taipei City Councilor Li-Keng Kuei-fang (厲耿桂芳) suggested that zoo workers adjust the diet of the eight bears for the sake of their health. The bears, Lee said, all weighed a lot more than bears of the same age in the wild. Twelve-year-old "Siao San" (小三), for example, weighs 150.5kg, while wild bears of the same age weigh around 90kg. And 11-year-old "Bao Bei" (寶貝) weighs 140kg, while a wild one of this age weighs about 65kg. Lee said she was worried that the bears' obesity could lead to cardiovascular disease. Zoo workers admitted that the captive bears were better fed than wild ones, but said their nutritional intake had been calculated by experts. Zoo workers suggested that the bears might have been spoiled by their caretakers and promised to give the bears less food.