China protection center prepares endangered animals for Spring Festival

Endangered animals in a northwestern Chinese protection center will be treated to a feast in the coming Spring Festival, which falls on Feb. 8, as breeders prepare a buffet of nutritious food to celebrate.

"We stored 100 tonnes of clovers during the holiday for the Przewalski's horses, wild camels and Saiga antelopes," Ma Jizhong, director with the Endangered Animal Protection Center of Gansu Province, said Thursday.

Breeders mixed clover, which contains high protein, with vegetables such as peas, corn and carrots to help the animals gain weight during the lean winter period, Ma said.

Veterinarians are also conducting health checks for the new year, helping them get rid of parasites and other conditions.

Prior to the chilling winter months, workers installed heating facilities in several of the pens housing monkeys and baboons. "If they feel cold outdoors, they can enter into their warm and comfortable houses," said Zhao Jianyou, a veterinarian with the center.

Established in 1987, the Gansu Endangered Animal Protection Center is located in Wuwei City and covers an area of 180,000 hectares.

Przewalski's horse was first brought to northwest China's Xinjiang and Gansu from Europe in late 1980s, back from the brink of extinction.

Between 2010 and 2012, the Gansu center freed 28 Przewalski's horses to nature. Endi