A conservationist in Taitung County yesterday urged motorists heading south to slow down to allow safe passage for butterflies heading north after wintering in the county.
“Motorists driving along Provincial Highway No. 9 can help give creatures other than humans a chance of life,” conservationist Lu Chin-yu (呂縉宇) said, referring to the road that runs almost the length of the east coast.
He made the appeal as the butterflies, after wintering in warmer Taitung, prepare to return to the northwest via the mountainous Dawu region. He said the butterflies normally fly inland along the mountains, where the highway is situated, to save energy on their way to Hualien.
“This is why motorists driving along Provincial Highway No. 9 have seen many butterflies flying alongside the road or crossing it recently,” he said.
With the weather turning warmer, some butterflies have begun migrating north, but he said the highway and connecting roads were “strewn with injured or dead butterflies.”
As there will be a major migration after the middle of this month, the situation may become worse, he said, adding that the section of the road between Dawu (大武) and Taimali (太麻里) is on the migration route and southbound motorists will be heading straight for them.
With the butterflies flying at speeds of between 10kph and 20kph, they “will die upon impact” when colliding with vehicles traveling at between 70kph and 80kph, he said.
Lu said his research over the years had shown that if cars were traveling at under 60kph, the butterflies still have a chance of survival because of the air currents created, but if the speed were more than 80kph, they would have “no chance at all.”
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS