Task: Question Understanding
Input (English): Passage: The population in Italy may have been introduced from the zoo Faunistic Park Le Cornelle which has kept a free-flying group since the early 1980s, or possibly from Brittany, but this is unclear. The first pair was seen breeding in the nearby heronry at Oldenico, in Lame del Sesia Regional Park in Novara, NW Italy, in 1989. By 1998 there was a colony of 9 pairs and 48 birds here; by 2000 there were 24-26 pairs, and by 2003 there were 25-30 breeding pairs. A second colony appeared in 2004 at another nearby heronry at Casalbeltrame. These birds would mostly feed in the rice fields in the area, but would also migrate elsewhere during the summer, with the population at the roosts increasing in the winter. In 2008, the number of breeding ibis was estimated at 80-100 pairs, and at least 300 birds. That same year, 6 individuals, consisting of 3 pairs, were observed roosting at a heronry in Casaleggio Novara. By 2009 they were said to be one of the most characteristic animals of the rice-growing area of Novara and Vercellese. In 2010 the species was reported attempting to breed in the Po Delta, NE Italy. By 2014 reports of individuals and small flocks were recorded in various areas from the Po Valley down to Tuscany. Outside the Piedmont Region, cases of possible nesting are reported in Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Lombardy. As of 2017 there do not seem to be coordinated control efforts in Italy.
Question: Which year were there more breeding pairs of birds, 2000 or 2003?
Output (English): date