Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

Taiwan offers deer, goat in exchange for China pandas
08 Oct 2008 05:41:21 GMT
Source: Reuters
TAIPEI, Oct 8 (Reuters) - As China prepares two endangered giant pandas for Taiwan as a symbol of warming ties, the island plans to send a rare goat-and-deer duo to its political rival, officials said on Wednesday.

"In keeping with normal practice for exchanging animals, we need to offer species that are special to Taiwan," a city of Taipei spokesman Yang Hsiao-tung said. "For once the trade is confirmed, we've made preparations. The goat and the deer are both native."

Chinese and Taiwan officials must approve the animal exchange but are expected to give it a nod. Over the past two years, Beijing has taken steps to make a friendlier impression on the people of Taiwan, over which China claims sovereignity, but its offer of pandas was rejected twice.

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since the Chinese civil war ended in 1949, and Beijing has threatened to use force if the island formally declares statehood.

Beijing's offer of pandas, a gesture of goodwill to push its unification agenda, had been rejected by the former government led by a China-hostile president but current President Ma Ying-jeou has said he would welcome them.

About 1,000 pandas live in the wild bamboo forests of central and western China, which has given the animals to nine countries since 1957.

The combined names of the gift pandas mean "unite" while the names of Taiwan's goat-deer duo said together mean "forever."

The Taipei city zoo will donate the native sika deer, a critically endangered species, and a Formosan serow, a small but agile mountain goat that's also seldom seen anymore in Taiwan.

Despite the Taiwan offer's smaller size, some say neither party is getting any better a deal, as any of the three species may adapt poorly to their new habitats. "They don't need to make any exchange," said Hsu Yung-ming of Taipei-based think tank Academia Sinica. (Reporting by Ralph Jennings; Editing by Valerie Lee)


AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  China: Faces of recovery
IFRC - Switzerland

•  China: Faces of recovery
IFRC - Switzerland

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Taiwan offers deer, goat in exchange for China pandas

•  US judge orders Chinese Muslims at Guantanamo freed

•  China milk scandal province hid mine disaster

•  Reuters Summit-Indian politics makes climate a tough sell

•  North Korea fires missiles into sea - Yonhap

MORE >>
AlertNet news is provided by

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-10-07T045103Z_01_PEK04_RTRIDSP_2_ENVIRONMENT-SUMMIT-CHINA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/PEK04.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-10-06T165944Z_01_NUR03_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE-KYRGYZSTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NUR03.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-10-06T165844Z_01_NUR02_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE-KYRGYZSTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NUR02.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-10-06T150453Z_01_NUR01_RTRIDSP_2_QUAKE-KYRGYZSTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/NUR01.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-10-06T002339Z_01_SHA03_RTRIDSP_2_ENVIRONMENT-SUMMIT-SHANGHAI-SINKING_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/SHA03.htm

People search for usable coal at a cinder dump site on a hazy day in Changzhi, Shanxi province October 7, 2008. Negotiations seeking a global pact to tackle global warming are ...



Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Wed Oct 8 05:43:40 2008