The Taitung County Government today reminded the public that raising and breeding Formosan rock macaques is illegal, punishable by a fine between NT$50,000 and NT$250,000.
The reminder comes after several cases were found of people keeping and raising macaques as pets after their protected wildlife status was removed.
This year, the Taitung County Government has dealt with eight cases of people owning macaques, an increase compared with previous years.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
To ensure the safety of macaques — which are social animals that need community — as well as people, who can be infected by communicable diseases from the animals, the Ministry of Agriculture banned raising or importing them on Sept. 30, 2022.
The Formosan rock macaque is native to Taiwan and is the nation’s only indigenous primate, the Taitung County Agriculture Department said.
Although it was removed from the protected animals list in 2019, the species is still covered by the Animal Protection Act (動物保育法) and the Act on Wildlife Conservation (野生動物保育法), the department said.
Although many people wrongly assume that because it is not a protected species they can be bred and raised at will, doing so causes conflicts between people and monkeys, damages the animals’ health and leads to increased risk of diseases for humans, it said.
People should abide by a “Three Nos” policy with regards to the monkeys: “no feeding, no interfering, no contact,” the department said.
The macaques must not be bred as it takes away their right to live in nature and results in them losing their ability to survive in the wild, the department added, reminding people that failure to abide by the Animal Protection Act could result in fines of between NT$50,000 and NT$250,000.
READY: The CGA said it closely monitored China’s maritime exercise, deployed vessels to shadow the Chinese ships one-on-one and set up emergency response centers Chinese navy and coast guard ships have returned to China, signaling the end of a massive maritime exercise, authorities said yesterday. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) released images it said showed Chinese vessels sailing north in rough seas past Taiwan on Thursday, on their way to China. “All the Chinese coast guard went back to China yesterday, so although they have not officially made any announcement, we consider it over,” CGA Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said. Beijing has not confirmed the drills and the Chinese Ministry of National Defense did not say whether the maneuvers had taken place when asked at a
People can take the Taipei MRT free of charge if they access it at Nanjing Sanmin Station or Taipei Arena Station on the Green Line between 12am and 6am on Jan. 1, the Taipei Department of Transportation said on Friday, outlining its plans to ease crowding during New Year’s events in the capital. More than 200,000 people are expected to attend New Year’s Eve events in Taipei, with singer A-mei (張惠妹) performing at the Taipei Dome and the city government’s New Year’s Eve party at Taipei City Hall Plaza, the department said. As people have tended to use the MRT’s Blue or
PUBLIC TRANSPORT: As some roads would be fully or partially closed, people are advised to take the MRT, with services expanded to accommodate more riders This year’s Taipei Marathon, which has obtained its first gold label certification from World Athletics, is to be held from 5am to 1pm tomorrow and would have 28,000 participants. The race is to start from the Taipei City Plaza and would go through major roads throughout the city, with traffic control implemented from 6am to 2pm, officials said. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system and New Taipei City MRT Circle line would start operating at 5am on the day of the race, they said. The race would cover Renai Road, Xinyi Road, Hangzhou S Road, Aiguo east and west roads,
Taiwanese professional baseball should update sports stadiums and boost engagement to enhance fans’ experience, Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) in an interview on Friday. The league has urged Farglory Group and the Taipei City Government to improve the Taipei Dome’s outdated equipment, including relatively rudimentary television and sound systems, and poor technology, he said. The Tokyo Dome has markedly better television and sound systems, despite being 30 years old, because its managers continually upgraded its equipment, Tsai said. In contrast, the Taipei Dome lacked even a room for referees
RSS