The Council of Agriculture (COA) yesterday decided to remove Formosan rock macaques and seven other species from its list of protected species, while adding 17 species to it.
The council’s Forestry Bureau yesterday convened a five-hour meeting with experts to discuss the classification of wildlife, with the protection status of macaques being one of the most heatedly debated issues.
Among the 17 species being added to the list are the Taiwan rosefinch, the long-tailed pigeon and the Formosan yuhina, the bureau said.
GENERAL WILDLIFE
Eight formerly protected species, including the macaques, the Formosan Reeve’s muntjac and the masked palm civet have been reclassified as general wildlife, it said.
“The decision has nothing to do with agricultural losses [caused by animals], which is another issue,” bureau Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said, adding that the living conditions and distribution of wildlife are the bureau’s main concerns.
The bureau would also initiate monitoring plans for those species, Lin added.
A study in 2000 suggested that there were between 250,000 and 300,000 macaques, while other evidence suggests that their number has been growing steadily, said National Tunghai University Department of Life Sciences professor Lin Liang-kong (林良恭), who attended the meeting.
However, a more comprehensive survey about the species’ living conditions is needed, he added.
FARM RAIDS
While many farmers have complained about monkey raids, only a few of them have harmed the animals, because they think the macaques look like humans, Lin Liang-kong said, adding that experts have been helping farmers install electric fences around their farms to keep out wild animals.
People who hunt protected animals could face a prison term of between six months and five years or a fine between NT$200,000 and NT$1 million (US$6,577 and US$32,891) for breaching the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), bureau Conservation Division Director Hsia Jung-sheng (夏榮生) said.
People who hunt non-protected animals could face a fine of between NT$60,000 and NT$300,000 under the act, she said.
The bureau needs to finish related paperwork before it can formally announce the changed protection statuses of wildlife, Hsia added.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to
Unlike most countries, Taiwan cannot use its country’s own name to compete in the Olympic Games or other major international sports events. Instead, it participates under the name “Chinese Taipei,” a name that causes confusion and sparks curiosity among many people, including an American director who explored the topic in his new documentary. Garret Clarke, the director of the 20-minute documentary What’s in a Name? A Chinese Taipei Story, said in an recent media interview said that he was motivated to make the documentary because he finds the name “Chinese Taipei” to be “weird.” The dispute that eventually created the name dates back