A year after an alarming number of water buffaloes in Yangmingshan National Park were found dead, a Control Yuan investigation concluded on Friday that it was due to park negligence. From the beginning of winter last year through February, 50 animals were found dead, 10 times the usual number.
The park initially claimed that the deaths were due to malnutrition caused by climate factors and an increased population, but animal rights advocates and critics believed that they were covering up a disaster caused by ignorance and mismanagement, including erecting fences in their grazing area. Although the buffaloes are one of the main draws to the park, barriers were set up after visitors were injured by the animals, with one elderly woman dying from her wounds.
It is understandable that the park was in a tight spot: First, it was fined for the woman’s death, but after erecting barriers to prevent another incident, it was fined again for the buffaloes’ deaths.
The park has claimed that the animals are feral and insisted on a “no feeding, no interference and no contact” policy, but the fences were obviously an interference, and were apparently set up without input from experts or the public. Parts of the fences were subsequently taken down, which is an utter waste of NT$2.3 million (US$82,660) of public funds.
The report said that the decisionmaking process to set up and demolish the fences was “rash and negligent,” and went against a national park goal to protect the natural environment and biodiversity. This is not a human habitat, and if incidents between humans and wildlife keep happening, should humans not be restricted?
With a portion of the fences removed, hopefully, such a tragedy does not happen again this winter. The park said it has taken several extra measures last month, including setting up food and salt lick stations, working with veterinarians for emergency medical rescue services and putting up railings on popular trails to keep visitors from approaching the animals. It is a good sign that the park is directly taking responsibility, but a longer-term plan is also needed.
It is a tricky job to protect visitors and the wildlife, but that is what the park is meant to do and why more thought and planning should have gone into this whole exercise in the first place. The park could have removed the animals when the Yangmingshan Ranch closed, but it benefits from buffaloes in many ways. It should have managed them better from the beginning.
People appear to care about these animals and enjoy seeing them there, but are they willing to pay more to, for example, hire experts to keep the animals healthy, or perhaps give up some of the trails to prevent further incidents? Will they stop getting way too close to the animals for photo opportunities?
Ever since the elderly woman’s death, there has also been talk about removing the buffaloes altogether. That should only be a last resort and should not happen until it is thoroughly deemed that the park is no longer suitable for them to live in.
If their mass deaths were really caused by the fences, then they should be fine this year. Fortunately, park officials said that they are not planning to re-erect the fences.
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