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Politics affecting rare bird's fate: Hau

Political considerations are preventing a stranded rare crane from being returned to its original habitat in northeastern China, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday.

Hau made the remarks during a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council where independent Councilor Lin Jui-tu (林瑞圖) showed a paper issued by China's Cha-Lung Nature Reserve, a center dedicated to the protection of waterfowl, commissioning him to assist in sending the red-crowned crane back to its natural habitat in China.

If this is not possible, it is willing to send three red-crowned cranes to Taiwan to accompany the stranded crane, Lin said.

The bird was injured at Hsinchu Air Base in September 2004 and taken to the Taipei City Zoo for treatment, where it has remained since.

Hau said that though strenuous efforts have been made toward returning the crane to China, the problem lies with "the governments on each side of the Taiwan Strait, which are too pre-occupied with political and ideological considerations."

Responding to suggestions that the crane be released into the wild, Hau said this might not be feasible, noting that it has been kept in a cage for nearly three years and that its flying ability may have degenerated.

"What the city government can do is to provide it with protection," Hau said, adding that the city has no desire to keep the bird in Taiwan indefinitely.

Hau said he communicated with the Council of Agriculture recently, but said that as the crane is on the protected list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), it requires consent from China before the bird can be sent there.
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