Efforts to restore wildlife populations are bearing fruit, with photographs taken from trail cameras confirming the presence of Formosan sambar deer at lower altitudes at Taroko National Park in eastern Taiwan.
National Park Service officials provided the photographs following the completion of a two-year ecological monitoring program led by Weng Guo-jing (翁國精), head of National Pingtung University of Science and Technology’s Institute of Wildlife Conservation.
One of the photographs shows a Formosan sambar deer foraging for food on a mountain slope 661m above sea level, a report by Weng’s research team said.
Photo courtesy of Taroko National Park Headquarters
It was the first time in 15 years that a Formosan sambar deer was sighted at such a medium-to-low altitude, it said.
Researchers visited the site and verified, through an analysis of animal droppings, that the deer had been in the area.
A native species of Taiwan, the Formosan sambar deer is protected by conservation laws. The animals used to be found in mountain forests at altitudes of 300m to 3,500m. However, due to habitat destruction and poaching, their population declined sharply and their range of activity became limited.
In the past decade or so, they have only been seen at altitudes of more than 2,000m, park officials said.
Even at that height, few people have encountered the deer, and most of those who have seen them are veteran hikers who gave the animal a new name — Taiwan’s “mountain’s deity beast,” they said.
The photographs indicate that the native deer species have expanded their range of activity to the eastern section of Taroko National Park, although their main habitat remains in high-altitude forests, the report said.
The ecological monitoring program covered 22km2 area — two abandoned mining sites Dacingshuei (大清水) and Hueide (匯德), at altitudes of 500m to 1,500m. The team set up six voice recorders and 30 trail cameras that do not interfere with wildlife activities and start recording or taking photographs when they detect animal movement.
The report also recorded the presence of other protected native wildlife, including Berdmore’s ground squirrel, red and white giant flying squirrel and Formosan giant flying squirrel.
At a wildlife protection reserve at Mount Cingshuei, there had been sightings of Pallas’ squirrels, Berdmore’s ground squirrels, and the two types of giant flying squirrels, as well as audio recordings of Formosan samba deer, it said.
Most wildlife in the park have become more active and chances of seeing them are higher from March to May and September to November, officials said.
Results from the monitoring program are to be used as a reference for the conservation and management of these animals, while the public can read the report online on Taroko National Park’s Web site, they said.
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
TAKE BREAKS: A woman developed cystitis by refusing to get up to use the bathroom while playing mahjong for fear of disturbing her winning streak, a doctor said People should stand up and move around often while traveling or playing mahjong during the Lunar New Year holiday, as prolonged sitting can lead to cystitis or hemorrhoids, doctors said. Yuan’s General Hospital urologist Lee Tsung-hsi (李宗熹) said that he treated a 63-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙) who had been sitting motionless and holding off going to the bathroom, increasing her risk of bladder infection. Chao would drink beverages and not urinate for several hours while playing mahjong with friends and family, especially when she was on a winning streak, afraid that using the bathroom would ruin her luck, he said. She had
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
RSS