As the mainland prepares to send two endangered giant pandas to Taiwan as a gift, the island plans to ship a rare goat-and-deer duo in return, officials said yesterday.

"In keeping with normal practice for exchanging animals, we need to offer species that are special to Taiwan," Taipei city spokesman Yang Hsiao-tung said. "The goat and the deer are both native."

The Taipei city zoo will donate a sika deer, a critically endangered species, and a Formosan serow, a small but agile mountain goat that's also seldom seen anymore in Taiwan.

The mainland's offer of pandas, a gesture of goodwill to Taiwan compatriots, had been rejected by the former government led by Chen Shui-bian, but current leader Ma Ying-jeou has said he would welcome them.

The combined names of the gift pandas mean "unite" while the names of Taiwan's goat-deer duo together mean "forever".

(Agencies via China Daily October 9, 2008)