Authorities reminded the public that pets are banned from Kaohsiung’s Shoushan (壽山) and Banpingshan (半屏山) national park areas to protect local wildlife, and prevent fights between dogs and monkeys.
The National Nature Park Headquarters’ National Park Service said six contraventions were recorded in 2023 and six last year, with one person incurring an increased fine after breaking the rules twice.
Two incidents have already been recorded in the first two months of this year, it said.
Photo courtesy of the National Nature Park Headquarters’ National Park Service
The mountains are busy tourist hot spots, with Shoushan receiving 1.84 million visitors last year, and Banping about 115,000, it said.
The ban is in place because pets could carry infectious diseases and parasites, such as canine distemper, fleas and mites, which could infect owners and other visitors, it said.
The parks are also home to many native species that pets might attack or intimidate, including the Formosan rock macaque and the tiny and timid Formosan Reeves’ muntjac.
Last year, park rangers reported witnessing an unleashed dog confronting a group of macaques, it said.
Park rangers frequently patrol the area and if they encounter hikers who have brought pets into the park, they issue a verbal warning to leave immediately. If visitors ignore the rules, rangers impose a fine.
If the pet owner fails to adequately explain their case, it would be confirmed as a clear contravention of park rules and a fine would be issued.
Fines begin from NT$1,500, but might rise to NT$3,000 for repeat offenses, the park service said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
A mountain blaze that broke out yesterday morning in Yangmingshan National Park was put out after five hours, following multi agency efforts involving dozens of fire trucks and helicopter water drops. The fire might have been sparked by an air quality sensor operated by the National Center for High-Performance Computing, one of the national-level laboratories under the National Applied Research Laboratories, Yangmingshan National Park Headquarters said. The Taipei City Fire Department said the fire, which broke out at about 11am yesterday near the mountainous Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑) Recreation Area was extinguished at 4:32pm. It had initially dispatched 72 personnel in four command vehicles, 16
RSS