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Officials renew call not to feed macaques at Yushan

A Formosan macaque looks through the windshield of a vehicle in Yushan National Park in this file photo. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE YUSHAN NATIONAL PARK ADMINISTRATION

The northwestern section of Yushan National Park along the New Central Cross-Island Highway has often been referred to as "Macaque Highway" because of the groups of Formosan macaques frequently seen close to the Shihshan (石山) service station and the border of the park.

Visitors to the area often feed the monkeys, and stories have circulated of monkeys begging for food and attacking visitors who refused to feed them.

In January, Yushan National Park administrators issued a ban on feeding wild animals in the park and set a maximum fine of NT$1,000 for those who failed to comply.

The ban, however, has had limited success, forcing the park administration to organize in June a "macaque volunteer team" with 30 volunteers patrolling the area to remind visitors not to feed the monkeys.

On Saturday, the park administration assembled the volunteers and academics to share their thoughts on the situation.

Lu Tien-teng (盧添登), one of the volunteers, said there are three groups of 10 to 15 monkeys in the area. Although incidents of visitors feeding monkeys have decreased significantly, some people still do not listen to the volunteers, resulting in attacks by monkeys.

Luckily, no serious injuries have been reported, Lu said.

Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍), the administrator of the park, said that feeding monkeys could lead them to gradually lose their ability to feed themselves in the wild and could even split some groups.

Hsu concluded by saying that people who really care for the welfare of the animals would refrain from feeding them.
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