The Forestry Bureau has decided to increase restrictions on people traveling on the Tan-ta Forest Trail, which crosses the central mountains to connect Nantou and Hualien counties, in order to combat widespread poaching.
The statement was made in the bureau's news release yesterday, following a report in the Chinese-language China Times about poaching in the area.
In the story, the Wild At Heart Legal Defense Association said that Taiwan Power's maintenance of the trail for its power lines may have helped poachers by halving the time poachers need to "deliver their goods" from one week to three days.
The association said that restaurants near the trail that sold dishes containing wild animal meat and wild plants were even able to provide the association staff -- who went undercover as customers -- with wild animals of any kind and any quantity.
Orders for specific kinds of animals could also be placed at the restaurants, with prices ranging from several hundred NT dollars to several thousand NT dollars, the association said.
The group appealed to Taiwan Power to halt the road maintenance project immediately.
Association chairwoman Yang Shih-hui (
However, the number of illegally hunted animals has exceeded the limits the government set as part of a promise made to Aborigines to help them maintain their traditional lifestyle, Yang said.
Yan Jen-te (顏仁德), chief director of the Forestry Bureau, said he was "very shocked and concerned" after learning about the poaching, said Fang Kuo-yun (方國運), chief of the Forest Protection Section.
Forest and environmental police and the Nantou and Hualien district forest offices started an investigation into the poaching on July 6, but the team encountered serious landslides and witnessed no illegal hunting in the area, the bureau's press release said.
Fang said the bureau had decided to place more restrictions on personnel entering the area near the trail to curb poaching.
Visitors to the area will have to register at the Nantou and Hualien district offices.
The forest police would also contact the association for information about the restaurants illegally offering protected animal meat, Fang said.
According to the Wildlife Conservation Law (野生動物保育法), anyone convicted of involvement in the illegal hunting, killing and selling of protected animals could received up to five years in prison or be fined up to NT$1.5 million (US$45,454).
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