The Council of Agriculture yesterday touted its success in breeding Formosan black bears.
However, staff at the council’s Endemic Species Research Institute in Nantou County urged the government to allocate more budget and manpower to the conservation of the indigenous Taiwanese species.
“We successfully bred two Formosan black bear cubs in 2007,” said Yang Ji-tsong (楊吉宗), deputy chief of the institute.
PHOTO: CNA
Formosan black bears, also known as white-throated bears for the distinctive white V-shape they carry on their chest, are endemic to Taiwan.
The institute began its efforts to protect the rapidly diminishing animals more than a decade ago, Yang said, adding that three successful births have occurred since.
The cubs, named Babai (“800” in Mandarin) and Wubai (“500” in Mandarin), were the offspring of two bears raised in captivity, Yang said, adding that their birth and good health proved that the conservation effort was successful in helping the species proliferate. The cubs’ names are derived from “white chin” (下巴白, xiababai) and “no white” (無白, wubai), Yang said.
Babai and Wubai, both male, were raised by their mother and began living on their own in manmade environments six months ago.
The pair are adapting exceptionally well, Yang said.
Last month, when giant pandas Tuan Tuan (團團) and Yuan Yuan (圓圓) arrived from China, animal rights activists said that while NT$30 million (US$1 million) per year had been allocated to the care of the imported animals, the government only donates about NT$100,000 each year to the care of Formosan black bears.
Yang said that for his team’s conservation efforts, he “feels deeply that the budget and manpower is insufficient.”
In addition to asking the government for more funds, the institute plans to try to elicit funds from the public as well as businesses, Yang said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS