Authorities are to temporarily shut one lane of a busy road to protect millions of butterflies on their seasonal migration, officials said yesterday.
Under the measure, one lane of the freeway near Linnei Township (林內鄉) will be closed on the mornings of April 3 to April 5 during the "peak hours" of the yearly migration by purple-spotted butterflies.
coexistence
PHOTO: AP
The measure could lead to traffic jams but it is worth doing, said Lee Thay-ming (
"Human beings need to coexist with the other species even if they are tiny butterflies," Lee said.
About one third of the country's purple-spotted butterflies risk their lives at the end of winter by flying north along the 300km route, which cuts across the elevated road, said Jhan Jia-long (
A study of Jhan's group showed that an estimated 11,500 butterflies per minute flew over the freeway in the three hours to noon on April 3, 2005 and that at least one million butterflies flew past the area on that day.
"A number of butterflies perished when they were dragged into strong turbulence caused by cars racing along the freeway," Jhan said.
Professor Sweehu Cheng (
Authorities also erected a protective net along the freeway, hoping that butterflies would be forced to fly at an higher altitude and avoid crashing into cars.
Ultraviolet light
The third measure being taken is to install ultraviolet lights under the elevated road, which experts said could lure the light-sensitive insects to fly safely underneath.
The measures were aimed to reduce the ecological impact from the construction of the freeway, Cheng said, adding that butterflies are also a key link in the country's food chain.
"The factor [protection of butterflies[ was not taken into consideration when the freeway was built," he said. The freeway was inaugurated more than four years ago.
The proposed measures were presented by Cheng and Lin Tieh-hsung (
Cheng said he had not expected the measures, which would cost approximately NT$1 million (US$30,000) to implement, would be approved.
Each winter, millions of purple-spotted butterflies move south beginning in November, with approximately 600,000 wintering in "Purple Butterfly Valley" of Maolin, which along with the Monarch butterfly's winter home in Mexico is one of only two mass wintering sites known in the world, Jhan said.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS