Chinese experts say there is no technical reason nor health concern for Taiwan to reject the Chinese mainland's gift of a pair of giant pandas.

 

Zhang Hemin, director of the Wolong Giant Panda Research Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province, told Xinhua there is "no problem rearing giant pandas in Taiwan with the technologies mainland experts are willing to provide."

 

With a semitropical, maritime climate, giant pandas in Taiwan would need an air conditioned habitat to be comfortable. As long as air-conditioners were used to replicate climatic conditions in Wolong, where the panda couple now lives, they would enjoy a comfortable life in Taiwan, said Zhang.

 

The expert points out that the pandas "An An" and "Jia Jia" presented by the central government to Hong Kong are doing just fine in an even more humid and tropical climate.

 

"They have grown despite the warm weather there," Zhang said, adding that giant pandas from China are now living in zoos in the United States, Japan, Germany, Mexico and other countries.

 

Zhang Guiquan, a senior panda expert, said at least four types of bamboo shoots growing on the island are suitable for the pandas' diet.

 

According to Wang Pengyan, vice-director of the Wolong center, the Chinese mainland has successfully developed artificial insemination techniques for giant pandas and is willing to share this expertise with zoologists in Taiwan.

 

Wang said, the mainland started artificially inseminating pandas in the 1960s and the survival rate of panda cubs has now risen to 90 percent.

 

"With suitable care and proper breeding techniques, the panda couple are very likely to have descendants on the island province," Wang said.

 

The giant panda is one of the world's most endangered species and is found only in China. It is estimated that 1,590 giant pandas live in the wild in China. There are 183 of them living in captivity throughout the world, with the majority on the Chinese mainland.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)