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US scientist to join local effort to save black bear

David Garshelis, a world-renowned bear expert from the US, is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan Monday to study the Formosan black bear, an endangered species endemic to Taiwan, the Taiwan branch of the Jane Goodall Institute said yesterday.

Garshelis, a University of Minnesota professor, will travel to the Tafen wildlife research base on Jade Mountain in central Taiwan to conduct a field study along with his student, Huang Hsiu-mei (黃秀妹), who is known to local aborigines as the "Mother of Formosan Black Bears" for her dedication to tracking the life and plight of the species in the island's mountain regions.

Huang, who is now working on a doctoral dissertation under Garshelis' guidance at the University of Minnesota, has helped arrange for her mentor's upcoming visit to the island, said the Goodall Institute.

The Institute said that although the Cabinet-level Council of Agriculture and the domestic academic community have devoted a lot of money and manpower to the study of the Formosan black bear, the actual number of surviving animals is unknown.

It was Huang who took the initiative to track the endangered species' whereabouts on the island.

"I have believed that the bear is the soul of the mountains ever since I studied at National Taiwan Normal University's Department of Biology and later at the Graduate Institute of Zoology," Huang recalled.

In July 1998, Huang said she returned to Taiwan after learning a repertoire of bear-catching skills in the US. "I have since traveled between Taiwan and the United States to pursue the study of Formosan bears."

Over the past few years, Huang has often traveled deep into Taiwan's mountain regions by herself to track the Formosan black bears and study their activities.

"During the period, I have managed to plant computer chips and detectors on 15 Formosan bears to allow us to follow their lives by satellite," Huang said.

According to Huang, Formosan black bears face the threat of extinction. "Seven of the 15 bears I tagged have had their paws amputated as ingredients for Chinese medicine and cuisine," she lamented.

Huang said recent media reports of the poaching of some endemic wildlife, such as sambar deer, have worried her. "I therefore asked Professor Garshelis to come to Taiwan to use the satellite monitoring system in order to check whether the 15 Formosan bears are still alive and healthy."

Huang recalled that when she began to track Formosan bears, many aborigines had advised her to drop her plan and stay away from the species for the sake of her personal safety.

"But with love and concern, I have managed to ease the long-existing tension between mankind and wild animals," Huang said proudly, adding that she has developed intimate relationships with baby bears and even bulky male bears.

When Jane Goodall, a renowned British primatologist known as the "Mother of Chimpanzees" visited Taiwan last year, she lauded Huang's courage and dedication to the study of Taiwan's endangered bears. Huang is now locally known as the "Jane Goodall of Taiwan," a testament to her achievements in studying and protecting the endangered Formosan black bears.
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