The great panda puzzle continues to occupy?the Chinese media
busy speculating about the furry gifts earmarked for the people of
Taiwan from Beijing.
The bears, Fufu and Linyang, were allegedly to have been sent
from Southwest China's Sichuan Province to Fuzhou, capital of
Southeast China's Fujian,
a province close to Taiwan, for "survival training" as some Hong
Kong media described on Friday.
But related authorities have yet to officially announce any
details about when and where the friendship pandas will eventually
move.
"Details of the animal gift may soon become clear, but we cannot
give any detailed information at the moment," sources with the
State Forestry Administration told China Daily on
Friday.
Asked about a pair of snub-nosed monkeys also believed to be
presented to Taiwan by the mainland as a gift following the visit
of James Soong, chairman of People First Party in Taiwan, the
sources, who declined to be named, said: "We have no information
about this from the higher authorities."
Unlike the silent authorities, the media has been noisily
debating the significance of the chosen animal gifts.
"It is likely the mainland will also offer golden monkeys, also
a unique species to China, as gifts to Taiwan," said Quan Guoqiang,
a retired animal expert in Beijing, who has been engaged in monkey
research for many years.
There are three species of snub-nosed monkeys in Southwest
China's Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and Northwest China's
Gansu Province.
According to recent surveys, China currently has only some
25,000 snub-nosed monkeys living in the wild, with most of them in
Sichuan. The Guizhou species numbers only 800.
Although the population of the monkey is larger than that of
giant panda, it is also one of China's rare and endangered species
and is given top State protection, said Quan.
As their name suggests, golden monkeys vary in length with a
tail up to 72 centimetres.
The Sichuan species, with soft golden fur, generally have smooth
blue faces.
(China Daily May 14, 2005)
