The total area in Taiwan affected by exotic red fire ants has increased by nearly 50 percent since 2003, but despite the growing infestation, the government budget for pest control was cut from last year’s NT$40 million (US$1.36 million) to NT$20 million this year.
Listed among the world’s top 100 most-invasive species, the ants, native to South America, were discovered in Taiwan in 2003 and have alarmed residents by quickly spreading through urban areas in Greater Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli and Chiayi counties.
The ants not only pose a serious threat to Taiwanese ecology, but the necrotizing alkaloid in their venom can cause a blister or pustule — which earned them their name — that can cause a person to go into shock or can even be fatal if the person is allergic.
Photo: Chen Tsan-kun, Taipei Times
In 2004, the Council of Agriculture (COA) established a national red exotic fire ant prevention center tasked with containing the spread of the ants within a 36,000-hectare radius, but last year the center increased its containment area to 55,000 hectares.
According to the center, in 2007 there were 1,619 known locations of red fire ant activity, but last year known locations had increased to 2,440. The center said that in five years, Hsinchu County alone had seen an increase from 23 locations to 244, while New Taipei City (新北市) saw a 250 percent increase in ant activity, going up from 177 locations to 453.
National red fire ant prevention center director Huang Rong-nan (黃榮南) said that when the ants were accidentally introduced to Australia in 2001, the total infected area stood at about 60,000 to 70,000 hectares. The Australian government assigned a team of 600 people to combat the pests, and even used planes to spray a pesticide to contain them.
Taiwan, on the other had, has insufficient manpower to contain the ants, he said.
Huang Chi-sen (黃基森), a professor at National Taipei University of Education’s Program of Environmental Education and Resources, has been monitoring the activities of the ants for many years. Huang said that because of Taiwan’s geography, prevention and control of the ants would prove to be difficult.
“Now that the funding has been slashed, I’m afraid that it will be increasingly difficult to contain the ants,” he said.
The government should not give up, Huang said, because between 7 million and 8 million people live in the infested area. Huang said that the US suffers US$5 billion in losses per year because of the ants.
In response to why the COA was slashing funding for ant prevention, Fei Wen-chi (費雯綺) of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine said the budget cut was the result of financial troubles at the central government.
Despite the financial difficulties, the budget was still enough to ensure high-level prevention and containment, Fei said, adding that the council would employ alternative methods to contain the ants.
“We have adjusted our strategies for this year,” she said. “While Taoyuan County will be under full prevention and containment as a ‘heavy disaster’ area, the bureau will treat other infested areas as hotspots and adjust its strategy accordingly.”
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as