Taiwan

Deer, goats as gifts from Taiwan arrive at Weihai

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-16 13:15

 

Children welcome the pair of spotted deers and two goats sent by Taiwan as gifts at the Weihai Airport in eastern Shandong province, April 16, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]

WEIHAI, Shandong - A pair of spotted deer and two goats sent by Taiwan as gifts to the Chinese mainland arrived at their new home, the Liugongdao National Forest Park, in Weihai of eastern Shandong Province Saturday afternoon.

A Boeing 737 jet carrying the animals landed at Weihai Airport at 12:35 pm, some two and half hours after taking off from Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan at 10:08 am.

Also aboard the plane are more than 480 kg of feed for the animals, including paper mulberry leaves, forage grass, low protein feed particles, vitamin and block salt.

The animals arrived at the park on the Liugongdao Island in the Weihai Bay at 3:30 pm after a further three hours of land and sea journey.

The pair of critically endangered Sika deer are named Fan Xing and Dian Dian (when linked, the names mean "dotted stars" in Chinese), while the two serows are named Xiyangyang and Leyangyang (both names mean "happy" in Chinese).

A pair of spotted deer sent by Taiwan as gifts to the Chinese mainland arrived at their new home, the Liugongdao National Forest Park, in Weihai of eastern Shandong Province, April 16,2011.[Photo/Xinhua]

A grand ceremony was held at the park to greet them Saturday afternoon, with some 400 participants from both the mainland and Taiwan.

Addressing the ceremony, Wang Peiting, secretary of the Weihai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, hailed the arrival of Taiwan's animals as another significant development in boosting exchanges and cooperation, after the mainland sent a pair of giant pandas, "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan" (together meaning "reunion"), to Taiwan in December 2008.

Jason Yeh, director of Taipei Zoo, the original home of the four Taiwan animals, said he believed the exchanges in animal care between the mainland and Taiwan will become more open and transparent following the gifting of the pandas and the deer and goats.

"(I believe) The cooperation between the two sides will pick up speed," Yeh said.

Located at the Weihai Bay to the eastern edge of the Shandong Peninsula, Liugongdao covers an area of 3.15 square km and is some 3.89 km away from Weihai city proper.

A state-level forest park launched in 1992, the park is famed for natural scenery and has an 87 percent of forest coverage, which makes it an ideal place for animals to live in.

Yuan Xueen, director of the Administration Commission of Liugongdao Island, said the Island will make every effort to ensure a healthy and happy life for the two pairs of Taiwan deer and goats, which will become "goodwill messengers" between compatriots across the Taiwan Strait.

Wang Jiansong, head of the administrative office of the park told Xinhua that after passing a quarantine procedure of at least 30 days, the two pairs of deer and goats can meet tourists at the park.

Wang said that according to researchers, the mulberry and elm leaves grown in Weihai can serve well as qualified feed for the deer and goats.

All arrangements have been put in place to ensure the animals have adequate and safe food supply, which will mainly come from within Liugongdao, Wang added.

Among those efforts to make the animals well-prepared for their new life, they will be fed in the first week the food stuff that arrived at the park along with them from Taiwan, according to Wang.

Staff members transport the arrived spotted deer and goats sent by Taiwan as gifts at the Weihai Airport in eastern Shandong province, April 16, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]