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Illegal hunting rife in the Dawushan nature reserve

Showing photos of animal remains taken in Dawushan (大武山) Nature Reserve, an environmentalist yesterday said that the area has become a hunter's paradise.

"[The hunters] shot so many animals every night that they needed one or two light trucks to transport the carcasses," said Simon Liao (廖東卿), the president of International Taiwan Birding Association.

Liao spoke at a press conference hosted by Independent Legislator Yang Chung-tse (楊宗哲), calling on the government to clamp down on the illegal shooting.

Dawushan Nature Reserve is located in the mountains of Taitung County. Due to its remote location and limited access, Dawushan, the largest nature reserve in the country, is one of the few areas of Taiwan not accessible by road.

However, last July's Typhoon Haitang brought heavy rains which washed a large quantity of earth and stone into the upstream riverbed of Chinlun River (金崙溪), creating a crossing which hunters use to enter the reservation by jeep, Yang said.

"Originally, it was just a rumor that a large number of animals were being slaughtered by unidentified hunters. But two environmentalists recently found out that the rumor was true. They hid themselves at night and obtained photographic evidence," Liao said.

Liao said that the environmentalists recently e-mailed a petition letter and the photos to a number of major environmental groups to expose the "hunters."

"We have seen the dead bodies of Formosan serow, Formosan barking deer, gem-faced civet, flying squirrel and yellow-throated Marten, among others, all of which are classified as endangered animals," the petition letter said.

Liao said the hunters enter the reservation at night because the animals are stunned when the headlights of their vehicles shine on them.

"It usually takes just three minutes for the hunter to shoot an animal," Liao said.

The environmentalists said that the hunters shot so many animals each night that they didn't even bother to pick up bodies on the mountainside, only gathering those that had rolled down to the riverbed.

"The hunters carried away about 10 to 20 medium and large animals at a time. We recently saw the decaying carcasses of smaller animals everywhere, and evidence of the hunters' weapons -- bullet cases and crossbow arrows," the letter said.

Liao said the government had failed to take action to halt the slaughter.

"The police actually colluded with the hunters. They ignored the information they got and even tipped off the hunters so they could temporarily stop the hunting whenever they knew that there were people keeping an eye on the situation," Liao said.

Liao said that the two environmentalists who took the photos wanted to keep their identity secret for the sake of their safety, and that they know who the hunters are and indeed have photos of them but were too afraid to reveal their identities for fear of reprisal.
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