Taiwan court rejects zoo's appeal to receive giant pandas

Mar 27, 2008, 5:22 GMT

   Taipei - A court on Thursday rejected the Taipei Zoo's application to accept a pair of giant pandas from China after president-elect Ma Ying-jeou said he supported the import of the popular endangered animals. The zoo vowed to appeal.

   'We will appeal this ruling, and this ruling will not affect our preparation to receive the pandas,' Taipei Zoo spokesman Chin Shih-chien said after the decision by the Taipei Administrative Court.

   China in 2005 offered to donate the pandas, which only live in the wild in China, to improve Beijing-Taipei ties.

   The Taipei Zoo applied to the Council of Agriculture for permission to import the pandas, but the council rejected the application on the grounds that pandas are endangered species and the Taipei Zoo has not made adequate preparations to raise them.

   The Taipei Zoo appealed the rejection with the cabinet, but lost, so it filed an appeal with the Taipei court last year. The court said, however, that the zoo's preparations were incomplete and rejected its appeal.

Analysts suspected political motives, saying they believe the Taiwan government is barring the import of the pandas for fear they might soften Taiwan people's attitudes toward China and its ambition to recover Taiwan.

Relations with the mainland have been tense under independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian, who leaves office May 20, making way for Ma.

On Sunday, a day after winning election, Ma said he approved of the two pandas coming to the island.

    The Taipei Zoo has spent 250 million Taiwan dollars (7.8 million US dollars) on building a Panda Hall and has sent 17 staff to the panda-breeding base in Sichuan, China, as well as the San Diego Zoo in the United States and the Ueno Zoo in Tokyo to learn how to raise and breed giant pandas.

   The Panda Hall is to be completed in June, and the Taipei Zoo has planted 6 hectares of bamboo to feed the giant pandas.

    Besides Taipei, Hsinchu county, Taichung city and Hualien county are vying to provide the pandas' new home.

   Giant pandas are among the rarest animals in the world. There are about 1,600 giant pandas in the world, with most of them living in the wild in China's Sichuan province.