Taiwan will send a pair of indigenous goats and a pair of spotted deer to the Chinese mainland as early as June, after the mainland gifted a pair of pandas in December 2008.

The animals, aged from three to five, had already been selected from the Taipei Zoo, and currently were in isolation for quarantine inspections, local media reported.

After crossing the Taiwan Strait, the animals would live in Liugongdao National Forest Park in Weihai of Shandong Province in the eastern part of the Chinese mainland.

Although both the indigenous goats and the spotted deer could adapt to different environments quite easily, Taipei Zoo director Jason Yeh said it might take a while for them to get used to the weather in Shandong

According to Yeh, the indigenous goats would be first of their kind in the Chinese mainland.

The Chinese mainland sent a pair of pandas, "Tuan Tuan" and "Yuan Yuan" (together meaning "reunion"), as a gift to Taiwan in December 2008.