FORMOSA FILES PODCAST S1-E13: THE ORANGUTAN CRAZE
As one of the four "Asian Tigers," Taiwan's economy roared in the 1980s, but free-flowing money came with downsides such as the exploitation of wild animals, including tigers.
A television show from the 1980s had featured a family that had one of these great apes as a pet. The TV show, sadly, kicked off a craze in Taiwan for keeping these amazing animals. Orangutans are very cute babies -- but they grow fast and these "pets" soon became too much to handle for many. Some were then "freed" to wander the foothills of Taiwan.
#formosafiles #podcasts #taiwan #history #formosa #formosan #wildanimals #pet #orangutan
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The Formosa Files podcast is sponsored by the FRANK CHEN FOUNDATION (陳啟川先生文教基金會)
Website: https://www.frank-chen.org.tw/
This top-rated history podcast tells stories from the history of Formosa (Taiwan) from circa 1600 C.E. - 2000 C.E., via interesting, lesser-known short stories presented in a non-chronological order.
HOSTS: John Ross is an author and co-founder of publisher Camphor Press, which specializes in books on Taiwan and China in English, while Eryk Michael Smith has worked as a writer and journalist for multiple media outlets in Taiwan, including the island's only English-language radio station ICRT (FM 100.7). Both Ross and Smith have lived in Taiwan for well over 20 years and call the island home.
