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Taiwan celebrates milestone in conservation of endemic Lanyu pig
08/04/2021 01:15 PM
Photo courtesy of the Livestock Research Institute
Taipei, Aug. 4 (CNA) A group of Lanyu pigs that were returned to their native Orchid Island earlier this year recently gave birth to their first litter, marking a major milestone in the decades-long effort to conserve the endemic species.
At a press conference Tuesday, Taiwan s Livestock Research Institute highlighted its efforts to preserve the species, whose native population on Orchid Island (Lanyu Islet) had widely interbred with other pig species.
In 1979, the institute s Taitung Animal Propagation Station started a breeding program to maintain the species genetic integrity, and in 2013 it laid out plans to return the pigs to Orchid Island, where they play an important role in local Tao Indigenous culture.